Save a horse, ride a cowboy
by booknerd25
Summary: Ross meets Lizzie, a young and abused girl. As they begin a relationship, their dark pasts threaten to destroy everything and everyone they care about. Ross/OC, Sam/Jake Warnings for swearing, violence, lemons and mentions of abuse
1. Prologue

**Hey I was looking through PSFF and could only find 2-3 stories about Ross, so I have decided to do my own little take on him. He isn't really mentioned in great detail in the books, so most of this is ad-libbed, but if you spot a fact that is wrong, by all means please let me know **** enjoy! I DON"T OWN ANYTHING EXCEPT MY OWN IMAGINATION!**

Ross had just finished up another long day of work. The river bend ranch hands had to help with patching the cattle fences, which was long and tiring work.

Today they had to get up earlier than usual, simply for the fact that the new bunch of HACE kids were coming. Apparently 2 girls and 3 boys were going to be staying with them this time.

Ross had always thought that the HACE program was a good idea; he just wanted no part of it. The children with this program thought it was weird that he didn't talk much, and often made fun of this fact. Ross had the problem where he was not only shy, but he stuttered as well.

Ross quickly mounted his steed Tank. The horse, although large and appearing intimidating, was as big of a softie as he was. He swung his leg over to the other side of the saddle and began the journey on home.

Ross, along with Peeper and Dallas, lived in the bunkhouse of River Bend Ranch. He worked for Wyatt Forster, and was happy with his life. He was a real life cowboy what else could he possibly want from life?

A companion, a friend, a lover. While he had friends, he did not have a girlfriend. He tended to become lonely sometimes. The kind of loneliness that couldn't be solved by friends or family, the kind that could only be solved by being able to roll over in bed and come into contact with a warm body. That loneliness was about to be solved though.


	2. Elizabeth

**Okay first an apology, my computer (for some stupid reason) auto-corrected the word HARP and made it HACE. Sorry for that mix-up.**

Ross, Pepper and Dallas led their horses back to the barn. Ross quickly un-tacked Tank and began to wash him down. Ross made sure to spend as much time cleaning his horse. The more time he spent in here, the less he had to spend with the HARP girls.

Brynna soon stuck her head into the stall. "Hey Ross, the kids are here, so when ever your ready to meet them." The red-head soon walked off. "Well tank I guess now as good a time as any." Ross quickly left the barn.

When he got out he was greeted by the appearance of Jake, Sam, Jen, Dallas, Pepper, Wyatt and Brynna. There were 5 teens leaning against the fence.

The first of the three boys was short, only about 5'1, with long blonde hair and a pierced lip. He was wearing nothing but black clothing and even some eyeliner. The second boy wasn't short at 5'6, but he still appeared that way to Ross's 6'2 height. This boy had black swoopy hair and was wearing a hoddie and skinny jeans. The last boy was the tallest at 6'1 but he had a lanky frame. His hair was brown and once again swoopy and was wearing skinny jeans like the other two and a leather jacket. All three boys had there eyes covered and were looking at the ground.

Ross then looked over to the two girls. One was about 5'7 with long brown hair. She was popping bubble gum and looking at her I-pod with a disdained interest. She was wearing a tank top and short shorts. The last teen looked different however.

She was tall at 5'8, with a curvy build. She had short spiky black hair, but Ross could see strawberry blonde roots. She had piercing green eyes and a fair complexion. She was looking around the yard with barley suppressed interest and curiosity. She looked as if she would be exploring around the yard if she could.

Brynna wasted no time in making introductions. "Well kids this is what I was telling you about, River Bend Ranch. I'd like you to meet Ross, Dallas and Pepper. They are the ranch hands; feel free to ask them any questions if you have them. This is Samantha, Jennifer and Jake. They are going to be your peer tutors. They are the ones who you will be working with the most. This is Grace and Wyatt the owners of the ranch."

Brynna then turned to introduce the children. "Well kids why don't you tell everybody your names, and why you're here."

The Short boy soon spoke. "Okay I'm Thomas. I'm 16 and I'm here 'cause they found pot in my locker, I got into a fight and my dad don't want me no more."

The Black haired boy spoke up next. "I'm Jeffrey, I'm 15 and I'm here because the school caught my sellin' crack" The last boy stood up "I'm Henry and I'm 16, I'm here cause I have an anger problem" The two girls stood up next with the short one going first. "I'm tiffany, I'm 15 and I'm here for shoplifting and smoking." Tiffany quickly turned her attention back to her I-pod. The spiky haired girl stood up next. "I'm Elizabeth, I'm 17 and I'm here because my father and my ex-boyfriend beat me." Elizabeth's voice was as quiet as a whisper and she didn't look at anybody while talking.

Ross thought about all of the children. The only one he didn't hold any anger towards was Elizabeth. Brynna had said earlier that one of the kids wasn't here for bad behavior, only to be rescued. Elizabeth was that girl.


	3. Bruises

**Okay this is a short chapter and kinda boring, but the story will pick up soon I just needed to get some of the boring details out of the way first. Enjoy **

Brynna went on to explain the basic parameters of this program. River Bend had been approved to start working with bigger risks. Ones that were in real danger of going to jail. The teens would be living here, for three months. After that they would go home, hopefully, rehabilitated.

"Okay, children this program is pretty simple. You will each be assigned to a horse. It is your job to take care of, rehabilitate and learn to ride that horse. Your peer tutors will be the ones that you will manly be working with, but feel free to ask for help from anyone you see around here. You can go unpack your things in that barn, and the wash up for dinner." The kids picked up there bags and quickly started to walk over to the barn.

"Oh Elizabeth can you please stay here for a moment?" Elizabeth looked terrified. "I wanted to tell you this earlier, but there is only enough room for 4 children in the barn. You are the only one that I trust not to burn down the place, so you will be staying in the guest room of the bunk house. Ross can show you where it is."

Ross was now panicking. He hoped that he would not stutter while talking to her. "Uh you can just follow me." Was all he managed to say and even then he blushed slightly.

"Okay, oh you guys can just call me Lizzie if you want." Ross was about to turn when he saw Lizzie trying to carry a bag that looked like it was twice her size. "Let me help." Ross grabbed the bag from where it was heaved on her back. As he moved to large bag, part of her tee shirt lifted up, exposing large purple bruises on her fair skin. Now that he was closer to her, Ross could see that she was wearing make-up on her face and arms. Presumably to cover more bruises.

Lizzie quickly followed Ross into the bunk house. The bunkhouse had 6 basic rooms. The stairs entered into a large open kitchen. Nothing to fancy, just a place to sit and eat. A hallway went straight with 2 bedrooms on each side. At the end there was a full bathroom. Lizzie would be staying in the guest bedroom, which was the last on the left. It was right next Ross's bedroom.

"Here you go." "Thanks Ross." "The, uh, bathroom is at the end of the hall." "Thanks."

Lizzie looked around her new room. It was small, but comfortable. There was a double bed, a set of drawers and a small desk with a chair.

Lizzie was just thankful that she was in a place where she didn't fear being hurt.


	4. Shadow

**Okay quick note, some people were asking about the age difference between Ross and Lizzie. I won't be starting a serious romance between them 'till Lizzie is 18, and I pictured Ross as 22 or 23. It is a 5 year difference but nothing creepy like if it was Dallas and Lizzie O.o hopefully that clears things up, enjoy!**

Ross quickly made his way over to the kitchen, which now was filled with noisy teenagers devouring plates of food. Grace had made spaghetti and meatballs with Caesar salad and a chocolate cake was sitting on the counter just waiting for dessert.

Lizzie entered the kitchen 5 minutes after Ross. There wasn't much food left, or space. "Here you go Lizzie, I saved you a plate." "Thank you Ms. Forster." "You can just call me Grace Sweetie." Everyone pretended not to see her wince at the word sweetheart. Well almost everyone.

Henry began to hassle Lizzie. "What's wrong SWEETIE? Was life to good for you back home? What's wrong your boyfriend is the only one who can call you that, SWEETIE?" Lizzie did nothing but look down at her plate. She tried to hide it but tears were on the verge of escaping. "Oh come on SWEETIE, tell us what's wrong." "My ex used to call me that before hitting me; it just brings back bad memories." Lizzie spoke so softly that you could guess she was just mumbling. "I couldn't quite hear you SWEETIE, what did you say?" taunted Henry. Ross was the first to see it.

Something caused her green eyes to get darker. Seconds after seeing that shadow pass, she jumped. "WOULD YOU SHUT UP! I was put through torture. Every time that you call me sweetie, I have a flashback of what happened to me. So why don't you do us all a favor and just SHUT THE HELL UP!"

Lizzie's calm demeanor was all but a memory now. Henry quickly shut his mouth. The shadow left Lizzie's eyes and she looked shocked like everyone else. "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for." Was all that she said before sitting back down.

The rest of dinner went uninterrupted, until Brynna explained there new schedules.

"Kids in the morning, you will be expected to feed and brush your horse, and clean their stalls before getting breakfast. After you will work with the horses until lunch, then you will get to help out with the chores. Tomorrow you will have it easy as you don't know our rules and routines. But after that you will be expected to do your morning routine without being told to do so."

Henry being the bravest of the bunch stuck his hand up. "What time do we have to get up in the morning?" "6 am" every teen had a look of horror on there faces, except Lizzie, hers looked almost like relief.

After a few more complaints from the delinquent children, Brynna dismissed them to bed. Ross and the other cowboys went to the porch to wait out the summer heat. Dallas was playing his harmonica, Pepper was working on his wood carving, and Ross was writing poetry. Lizzie soon came up the stairs. "Goodnight" called Pepper. At the loud noise Lizzie startled at little, but returned the sentiment and gave a small smile.

Ross saw it though. The second she startled the shadow passed in her eyes. The shadow that soon would be the only thing her eyes expressed.


	5. Hose

The next morning brought surprises for the ranch hands. They went down to the barn at 5:30 am, the same time they went every morning, only to see Lizzie brushing her horse. Lizzie had been given a horse named Joker, a 4 year old mustang colt. He was chocolate brown with a white mane and tail. The mustang had been severely abused by his previous owners. They had given him a bit that torn at his gentle mouth. He now had scars on his mouth, making him look like he was always smiling, hence the new name.

Lizzie looked nothing like she had the day earlier. She was wearing jean shorts and a blue plaid, flannel shirt over a black tank top. She wasn't on the other hand, wearing her foundation. Blue-black bruises covered every inch of her skin. Her face was the worst though. Her right eye was black, her lip split, and very visible hand marks were on her left cheek and throat.

Lizzie had already fed, watered and cleaned Joker's stall. Pepper was the first to ask the obvious. "Hey Lizzie, whatcha doing' up so early?" Lizzie would have been up since 5 in order to accomplish all that she did. "I couldn't really sleep, so I got up around 4 and came down here. Brynna said that Joker had been abused so I thought that he would want to get to know me before all of the other kids entered the barn. They aren't very quiet. Oh I'm also sorry about my appearance; I forgot my foundation at home. Don't worry about the bruises; they look worse than they actually are."

"Don't worry about it, we aren't going to ostracize you simply because someone hit you Lizzie, but if I may ask, where did you learn how to take care of a horse like that?" asked Dallas. "Before she left, my mom wanted me to experience life. She signed me up for all sorts of classes. I took about 7 horseback riding lessons, before my dad made me stop. It was enough to teach me to clean a stall, brush a horse and some basic riding."

The cowboys left it at that and began to take care of their own horses. At 6 am they could hear Brynna trying, but ultimately failing, to wake up the other kids. Finally 15 minutes later she poked her head into the barn. "Hey Pepper you had siblings, do you think that you could wake these kids up?" "Sure thing, am I aloud to use the hose?" "Go for it."

Pepper quickly went to retrieve the hose. As he was walking back he saw Lizzie looking at the soon-to-be wake up call, with utter fascination. "Hey Lizzie do you want to watch, when I wake them up?" "Sure I'd love to." Lizzie put away her currycomb and followed Pepper as he walked into the teen's quarters.

They were all sprawled across their beds. Some mumbling, others softly snoring. "Okay guys, if you don't get up in the next minute, I'm turning on the hose!" yelled Pepper. Nothing, no movement or any sign of acknowledgement what so ever. Pepper turned and grinned at Lizzie, then turned the hose on at full blast.

The room was filled with screams and yells. When Pepper finally turned the hose off there was three very angry and very wet teenage boys. "What the hell was that for?" "Wake-up was half an hour ago, if you get up on time tomorrow, this won't happen!"

Pepper then turned to Lizzie "Can you check Tiffany's room for me?" "Yeah sure." After making sure that Tiffany wasn't getting changed or anything, Pepper let Lizzie turn the hose on her.

Lizzie helped put the hose back where it belonged, then went into the kitchen with the cowboys. Grace and Sam were just placing the food down onto the table, while Brynna and Wyatt were talking. Any speech stopped as Lizzie walked into the room.

"Oh good heavens, Lizzie I had no idea that you were abused so badly!" Grace looked the most horrified at the young girl's appearance. Brynna and Sam were sympathetic and Wyatt looked like he wanted to punch something. "Don't worry about them," pleaded Lizzie. "They don't even hurt anymore."

"Well at least you're in a place where no one will ever hit you again." Grace quickly placed the last plate of food down and everyone began eating. "Where are the other kids Pepper?" "Well Ms. Forster, Lizzie and I turned a hose on them, woke them up and last I checked, they were getting ready." "Well I guess" Sam supplied. "They snooze, they lose!"


	6. Talk

Soon Lizzie was helping Grace clear the dishes and clean the now messy table. At 7:15 the still slightly wet, teens came in. "Hey where's are breakfast?" asked an outraged Tiffany. Jake who had arrived 15 minutes earlier decided to answer that. "Well we did wait for you, but you guys were over 45 minutes late. The rest of us were hungry and thought that you weren't considering that you couldn't be bothered to show up on time."

Jeffery and Thomas simply looked bored while Tiffany and Henry looked murderous.

"Well why did Beth get breakfast then?" asked Henry. "First of all, my name is Lizzie. Second, I was here on time." Lizzie was washing down the table while Jake and Sam were tugging on their boots.

"Jake and I will take your horses out to the paddock while you kids clean their stalls. You should also thank Dallas as he fed all of your horses." Dallas had fed all of the delinquent's horses when they hadn't shown by 6 am.

Complaints and mumbled thanks were all that was said. Lizzie had gone out with the rest of the kids, leaving the cowboys, Grace and Brynna in the kitchen. "That poor girl. Did you see the hand prints on her throat and cheek? You have to hit someone pretty hard to leave a mark like that" said Grace.

"That's not even the worst of it either." stated Brynna. "When the cops came to her house, she was lying on the floor bleeding. Her father had stabbed her with the kitchen knife 7 times. In her statement she said that he went after her little sister. He had never done that before. So she picked up the lamp and hit him with it. When he turned on her, she just laughed at his threats."

The kitchen's occupants sat in silence letting what had just been said, soak in.

"Well that girl sure has guts, I don't know if I could do something like that." said Dallas. They looked out to the pasture where Lizzie was leading Joker out. She wasn't smiling, but she did look peaceful. It was a nice sight to see.

Jake and Sam hadn't been able to get to Joker's stall, so they let Lizzie lead him out. The other kids were getting different abused mustangs. Once rehabilitated, they would hopefully go to good homes.

There was Bolt, a male dappled chestnut. Patchwork, a brown and white female pinto. Sundance, a female golden palomino and Dalmatian. A white spotted male. All of the mustangs had been abused and badly at that.

Sam was the one who began to talk. "Okay these are the horses that you will be working with. They have all been abused by there previous owner, so today we are simply going to work on building trust with them. You will stand in the pasture that your horse is in. and that's it. When they come to you, then we can work further with them."

"Wait, so all that we're doing is standing there?" "Yeah that's it Tiffany." "When do we get to rid them?" "When they trust you enough to get close to you."

The teens went into the different pastures and closed the gates. As they stood with the morning sun rising, the cowboys left the kitchen. They grabbed their horses and quickly left. Ross was the only one though, to turn and take a backwards glance at the kids. He cracked a smile when he saw Joker start to walk towards Lizzie.


	7. Teased

**Sorry for the long wait but I had massive writers block **

As the June sun began to set, Ross and the other cowboys crossed the bridge. Lizzie was nailing part of the fence back together. "Hey Lizzie" "Hey Pepper, did you guys have a good day?" "Yep" Pepper and Lizzie were really starting to become friends. That was the thing about Lizzie; she seemed to make everyone more relaxed and happy.

"Oh quick warning, the other kids are in bad moods so watch out." The cowboys tipped there hats and kept walking. The ranch hands went to the bunkhouse for supper, mainly to stay away from the HARP kids.

"So what do you think of them?" Dallas asked. "I don't know, they seam pretty rough but Lizzie's alright." replied Pepper. Ross simply nodded in agreement with Peppers statement.

The rest of the night was silent. Ross wrote some poems while Pepper whittled some wood and Dallas played his harmonica. Lizzie soon came up the stairs with tears on her face and her arms wrapped tightly around her chest, as if it would keep her from falling apart.

"Hey Liz, what's wrong?" asked a concerned Pepper. "It's nothing don't worry about It." and with that Lizzie had already walked down the hall to her bedroom. "I wonder what that was about." Dallas said.

After a few hours the sun finished setting and the moon shone brightly in the sky. The ranch was silent except for the quiet stirrings of sleeping humans and horses. Ross woke suddenly and looked over to the clock on his desk. The numbers 3:47 shone back at him. As he sat wondering what caused him to wake up, he heard a floorboard creek. Ross quickly pulled on a pair of jeans and opened his door to see who was up.

However, by the time he got there, all he could see was darkness. He left the comfort of his room, now fully awake. He secretly worried if one of the HARP kids was trying to pull a prank. The front door was unlocked, although he had locked it earlier. Ross opened the door slowly, incase it was Dallas or Pepper outside.

In the eerily silent night sat Lizzie on the stairs. She was wearing nothing but a tank top and a pair of pajama shorts. Even though it was summer, the air was cold. Her bruises stuck out on the pale moonlit skin. He could hear her slightly crying.

"Lizzie?" she whipped around so fast Ross worried that she had whiplash. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to startle you." Her large eyes looked up at him, with a hint of panic in them. After a long silence she finally spoke. "I'm the one who should be sorry; I didn't mean to wake you." "You didn't" more silence filled the air before Ross spoke again. "Is everything alright?" "No, but you don't need to hear about it." Ross walked forward and down the stairs until he was sitting next to her. "Tell me." After thinking for a minute she started talking.

Ross found out that Henry had been teasing Lizzie. He had said that only losers get beaten-up without fighting back. Lizzie had never fought against her father or boyfriend for fear that her little sister would get hurt. "I'm sorry I really went on there didn't I, you're probably bored out of your mind right now." "I would have stopped you if I had been bored." Ross helped her up and they went back into the bunkhouse.

Ross watched as she went back into her room and soon collapsed into his own. The last thing he saw was his clock flashing 4:53


	8. Crash

**Okay New Chapter! Sorry for the long wait (damn writers block) please review and let me know if you like it or not.**

A loud crash woke the bunkhouse occupants the next morning at 5:04. Pepper and Dallas jumped out of bed while a sleep deprived Ross took longer. Lizzie literally jumped out of bed. After years of abuse she woke easily, and was dressed and out of her room in 3 minutes flat.

They ran down the stairs meeting Sam, Wyatt, Brynna and Grace. They had obviously heard it too. The other HARP children heard it too but simply ignored the noise and went back to sleep.

They looked around, but it was Lizzie the girl who had only been there for one day who saw the problem first. "I think there's a car stuck in your paddock fence" The shiny Cadillac that brought dread to the town had indeed crashed into the fence. Linc Slocum was here. His front right tire blown, probably from a pothole in the drive way.

He soon mustered his oddly proportioned body out of the car's cab. "Well Howdy folks!" he said in a voice far too loud for the early morning. "Good morning Linc, what brings you here?" asked a barley awake, yet still polite, Brynna. "Well I heard that the HARP kids were here, and I wanted to ask you again if Gold dust would be able to start taking some of them in. We have all of the horses and resources that the HARP program could want." "I already told you Linc, we need to use a ranch that will always have someone there to watch the children, and you don't really meet those requirements."

Linc tried to lift his gaudy belt buckle over his large stomach, failing that, he simply put his hands on his hips and looked around. His eyes soon fell upon the bruised and scared Lizzie. Dallas noticed out of the corner of his eye, that when Linc turned his steely gaze onto the young girl, Ross slightly shifted, so that she was no longer in view.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here? What's your name little missy?" "Elizabeth" "Well Betty, how would you like to stay at my ranch?" "No thank you" "come on Betty, don't you want a five star ranch? Just like in Hollywood." "Is that were you got that ridiculous outfit of yours?" Linc's face fumed a bright red. Grace was the one to break the tenses silence that followed. "Linc would you like some coffee? I'm sure the boys wouldn't mind helping change your tire." "Well I reckon I might like some of that old' black gold."

Half an hour later found Ross and Pepper changing the tire while Lizzie watched them. "Does Linc always dress like that?" "Pretty much" replied Pepper. "He got the whole ranch idea from Hollywood so he thinks that it is the real deal." "I always thought that cowboys were quiet and had tanned skin from working all day." "The ones around here do. Most of us out in the desert are actually hard working"

As 6 am drew near, Jake's truck came over the bridge, and the sounds of stirring could be heard from where the HARP kids slept. "Good morning Jake" "Morning' Lizard" Jake had given her that nickname yesterday. Sam told her that nicknames were actually a term of endearment from Jake.

Linc soon left the main house. "Thank you boys for fixing up my car. Oh and while I'm here I may as well tell you that you are all invited to my annual Brahma- que next month, I hope you lasso jockeys can make it." when Linc drove away Lizzie spoke up. "Did he just call you lasso jockeys?"

As the day progressed Dallas noticed that Ross looked dead tired. "Ross, you okay?" "Yeah" "you kind of tired" "I'm fine" Dallas decided not to push it. Ross wasn't the only sleep deprived person in the house. Lizzie was dragging her feet, but would jump at any unexpected noise. It was only now that people really saw how much the abuse at the hands of her father and boyfriend had affected her.

As the night drew closer, Lizzie excused herself to the bunkhouse, Ross soon followed. He noticed something weird about his room however. The door was slightly open, and he always made sure that his door was shut tight. On his pillow there was a small piece of paper with delicate writing on it.

Thank you, for listening

Although he had only known her for a short while, Ross was still touched at the kind note. He went to sleep with a smile on his face that night.


	9. Emerald

**To make up for the long waiting period I have put you through, I posted 2 chapters enjoy!**

The next 2 weeks flew by at an astounding speed. Lizzie's bruises faded and her cuts healed. Ross couldn't help but notice how pretty she was. The other Harp kids had made a huge leap in their rehabilitation as well, except for Henry. He still smoked, taunted Lizzie and abused his horse.

Lizzie's hair began to grow out. The black dye was semi-permanent so the original strawberry-blonde showed more prominently. While Lizzie put on a brave face every day, at night she often suffered horrible nightmares. To keep from waking everyone up she would go outside and sit on the stairs, where Ross often found her.

On the eve of Lizzie's 18th birthday, Ross once again found her outside. "Morning Lizzie" "Is it morning already?" "It's 3 am, how long have you been out here?" "Since 11:30" "More nightmares?" "Yeah"

The pair sat in silence. Ross and Lizzie had steadily been getting closer over the past two weeks, although neither talked of their past's. That topic was simply too painful for both individuals.

Lizzie learned that Ross had started working for Wyatt when he was 18, his favorite colour was red, he liked Elvis and the Beatles and his favorite past time was writing poetry. Ross learned that Lizzie's favorite colour was blue, she liked practically all music and that her favorite past time was painting or drawing.

"I have this for you" Ross then preceded to hand Lizzie a small box wrapped neatly in blue paper. "Thank you Ross, you really shouldn't have" "it's your birthday, I get to give you a gift" the shadow came back into her green eyes and her smile faltered slightly, but none the less she began to open the gift.

Lizzie looked down to the gift and tears came to her eyes. Inside the small box was a simple chain necklace with a single teardrop shaped, emerald on it. "Ross, this… this is t-too much, I can't take such an expensive gift from you" "it was my mother's. The emerald is said to help heal the body from both mental and physical injuries, I thought that it might help you"

Lizzie put down the present, reached over and hugged Ross tightly to her body. An action that was quickly returned. Ross hugged her tightly and breathed in her unique scent of violets, chocolate and a slight hint of oranges. Lizzie did the same and was greeted with the scent of old spice and some other scent that was uniquely Ross.

"Thank you Ross, can you help me put it on?" she handed him the necklace and he quickly closed the clasp. They sat in a silence that was getting increasingly awkward. Ross wanted nothing more than to kiss the small girl next to him, and without his knowledge, Lizzie wanted to kiss him to.

The tension between them had started growing over the two weeks that Lizzie had been here. Longer glances, more frequent hand brushes not to mention shy blushes when one was caught looking at the other.

They turned to each other and searched each others eyes for sign that what was about to happen was wrong. They leaned in closer, so slowly, a snail could move faster. Eyelids closed and bodies moved ever closer…

**Don't hate me, I couldn't resist putting at least one cliffie in there is also a picture of Lizzie's new necklace on my profile if you want to see it **


	10. Kiss

Eyelids closed and bodies moved ever closer…then the bunkhouse door opened and the moment was ruined.

Lizzie jumped back lie she had been burned and Ross let out a breathe he hadn't know he was holding. Pepper came bounding down the stairs unaware of the moment he had just interrupted. "Good morning Ross, Happy Birthday Lizzie!" Pepper quickly pulled out a gift of his own for her out of his front pocket. "I didn't wrap it or anything but I hope you like it anyways" Pepper handed Lizzie a hand carved wooden sculpture of her horses Joker, scars and all.

"Wow, do you do this yourself!" "Yeah, I did all the carving myself" "Pepper, it's beautiful, thank you so much!" Lizzie quickly stood and hugged Pepper tightly, causing a surge of jealously to go through Ross. "I'm just going to put this in my room for now."

Ross and Pepper went down to the barn, where they were soon joined by Dallas. As the men tacked their horses Lizzie came down to the barn. "Happy birthday Lizzie" "Thanks Dallas." She smiled brightly her bright personality starting to show through.

After Wyatt came into the barn, and wished Lizzie a happy birthday, the ranch men were off. As he did every morning Ross turned to look at Lizzie one last time, and like every morning was sent off with a wave and a smile.

That night Grace made Lizzie's favorite for dinner, Spaghetti and meatballs, caser salad and a beautiful chocolate cake for dessert. The Forster family all chipped in and bought Lizzie a new art kit that included paint, brushes, pallets and 3 canvases.

Dallas was the last to give Lizzie a gift. A small piece of paper that simply said "Left wall, rearing horse" "Dallas thank you for this, but I am a little confused by this" "That young lady, is a work order, I want you to paint it in my bedroom." Lizzie's eyes lit up "Really, you trust me to paint something like this?" "Yep" "Thank you, all of you this is easily the best birthday I have ever had." Her green eyes sparkled with happiness and her smile grew even wider if that was possible.

While Henry had been mostly silent for the evening, he now decided to ruin the evening. "Awe did princess, not get good parties when she was younger? What happened, not enough gold jewelry for you?" Lizzie's face contorted into one of pure rage. Silently she stood and started to clear the table.

Henry continued with his horrible taunting, "You going to start crying now? Did daddy not shell out enough money is that what's wrong" "Shut up" Lizzie interrupted, the shadow in her eyes causing them to turn 2 shades darker. She placed the dishes that she was holding down onto the table. An uncomfortable silence filed the air.

"My birthdays have always sucked, my father thought that it was an excuse to get drunk, and he was an abusive drunk. Later on my boyfriend always wanted something in return for getting me such nice gifts" the last 3 words were spat out with a growing temper. "As you can guess, he always wanted something sexual in return, so before you assume things about my life remember one thing, I almost died before coming here. That should tell you what my life was like." Lizzie then turned and stormed out, slamming the door behind her. Ross stood up and after sending a menacing glace towards Henry went out after Lizzie.

He found her sitting on the bridge railings, her long legs dangling over the edge. In the light of the full moon, her pale skin looked like it was pure white. Dark eyelashes brushed against her cheeks and soft locks of hair trailed down her spine. Even in sadness Lizzie still looked radiant to him.

"Why are people so cruel?" "Pardon?" "Why would Henry say something like that? Or my ex and my father hurt me?" Lizzie opened her eyes and turned to look at Ross. In the moonlight his normally dark skin was pale and his dark hair contrasted deeply to his skin.

"I don't know" he answered honestly. He walked closer and Lizzie jumped off the railing and onto the bridge. She looked up into Ross's warm brown eyes, her green one's filled with unshed tears. Ross looked over his shoulder, no one was coming. This time, as their bodies drew closer, their lips actually met.

Softly at first, the excitement quickly grew. Lizzie grabbed behind Ross's neck, while his settled into her hair. The height difference was putting a damper on their kisses, so Ross picked her up and sat her on the bridge railing. His tongue soon poked at her lips begging for entrance. Their make out session soon grew heated, and the air was filled with soft moans and groans. Breaking away only for air, they rested their foreheads together. "Happy Birthday Lizzie" "Best present ever"


	11. Dreams

The passionately embraced couple soon parted when they heard Dallas and Pepper leaving the main house. "I should go" "yeah" Kiss "Really the guys will notice" "I know" Kiss. After 5 more minutes Ross reluctantly untangled his limbs from Lizzie's and headed into the bunkhouse. He did happen to turn though and see Lizzie's deliriously happy grin. He quickly walked up the stairs to where Dallas was sitting.

"Ross you look happy" it was at this moment that Ross noticed that he had a grin plastered onto his face, one that probably looked pretty stupid to other people. "I am" he started to continue up the steps but Dallas stopped him.

"Ross, can I talk to you for a moment?" Ross responded with a nod and sat down. "I've noticed that you've taken a liking to Lizzie." "Yeah, and?" "I just want you to be careful. Lizzie has a pretty dark past, one that could come back to haunt both of you" "What are you talking about?" Ross almost shouted. He and Lizzie shared more than Dallas thought. "Now, now don't get defensive, just sit and let me finish. Lizzie is a sweet girl, and you're a nice guy, I don't have any problem with you starting a relationship with her. I just get the feeling that trouble follows Lizzie and consequentially you." "It doesn't matter I can protect her" Ross stormed off but not before he heard Dallas say "Not from herself you can't"

Meanwhile Lizzie was on her cell phone talking to someone. "NO, please just leave me alone! I don't know… I'm safe from you now, so you can just FUCK OFF!" She aggressively hung up and threw her cell into the river. She suddenly got a chill, as if someone was watching her. Lizzie turned and ran to the safety of the bunk house. Little did she know, she was actually being watched.

Ross fell into an uneasy sleep; he couldn't get Dallas last remark out of his head. After many hours of tossing and turning, he finally awoke at 3 am to the sounds of pleading and shouting through his wall. He walked out to the hall, learning that is was

Lizzie making the sounds. "Lizzie, are you okay?" he knocked on the door, which was oddly locked. He leaned in closer and put his ear to the door to listen in. "NO! Don't hurt her! Please! I'm sorry… no wait please, NO DON"T!" the volume of her voice got louder, and it was at that moment that she started to scream.

Ross baked up from the door, and then ran into it, using his weight and his momentum to break it down. The door almost came off of its hinges. Ross was then shocked with the sight of Lizzie screaming and flailing about in her bed. She was in the middle of a nightmare. "Lizzie, Lizzie wake up!" Ross had run over and was holding her shoulders down. Her green, panic filled eyes opened and one of her hands raked down the side of his face leaving three open cuts. "Ah fuck!" "Ross?" her attack stopped as recognition and remorse filled her face.

"What happened Lizzie?" "I w-was just ha-having a b-bad dream." Tears filled her eyes and she turned away to walk over to the window. Tear streaks lined her face, glistening in the moon light. "What was it about?" "Nothing" "You almost took half of my face off, that wasn't nothing" She sniffed and wiped away dried tears, which were quickly replaced with fresh ones. "Lizzie" Ross put one large hand under her chin and forced her to turn her head so that it was facing him. "Talk to me" She searched his eyes, before finally breaking down. "I c-c-couldn't, s-stop him" Ross pulled her small shaking frame into his arms. "Stop who?" "My father" she spat the word out, like it was an expletive. "He was hurting my sister and I couldn't stop him."

She started to shake harder as a breeze came into the room. Only now did Ross see Lizzie was only dressed in a flannel shirt, and a pair of boy shorts. He reached down and easily scooped up her body in his strong arms and carried her over to her bed. He sat down, pulling her into his lap. "It's okay, you did stop him, your sister is okay" "I know but it felt so real" she continued to sob into his chest. In an attempt to comfort her, Ross started to rub circles on her thigh and back, while whispering to her, "Its okay, your safe, I wont let anything hurt you" Lizzie soon fell back to sleep with Ross following her not 5 minutes later.

Dallas walked down the hall to Lizzie's room, having heard her screams, and the door being broken down. He saw Ross sleeping on the bed, with Lizzie on his lap, her head nestled into his neck. He smiled to himself "So much for being careful"


	12. Ticklish

**Hey new chapter, quick warning it's a fluffy one **** Enjoy!**

Ross was the first to awaken the next morning. He carefully leaned over to see the alarm clock, its red numbers displaying 4:57 as the time. His legs were tingling with pins and needles caused by Lizzie sitting on his lap. He gently moved her warm body onto the bed and made sure to tuck her in snugly to the array of blankets. The feeling had just come back into his legs when Lizzie's alarm clock went off at 5 am. Ross carefully turned it off, hoping that Lizzie wouldn't wake up. No such luck.

Lizzie took a deep breathe and her eyelids fluttered open. She moved and stretched her sore muscles. She didn't exactly sleep in the most comfortable position last night. "Morning" "Morning, I'm sorry for falling asleep on you last night" "why are you sorry?" asked a confused Ross. "It's ah, never mind it's just me being crazy, that's all."

She ran a hand threw her bed messed hair. Ross found that she looked quite cute with her hair sticking up everywhere, and a sleepy look still on her face. She looked up at him and gasped. "Oh God, Ross, I am so sorry, so, so sorry" "For what?" "For scratching you! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to I swear!" Lizzie was now sitting at the head of her bed and looked almost fearful of Ross and what his reaction would be when he remembered last night.

He went over to the small mirror that was hanging on her wall. He was shocked to say the least about his appearance. On the left side of his face, there were three scratches, about 3 inches long. They were bright red and quite angry looking. Blood had run down his face and neck leaving red paths in their wake. He looked quite gruesome. The left side of his shirt had an odd pattern of blood on it, as if some of it had never landed. He turned around and saw that some of the blood had landed in Lizzie's hair, creating blood red streaks in it.

"Lizzie, I'm not mad" "What?" "You thought that I was someone else, so you defended yourself. If anything I'm proud of you for doing something like that. Come here" He pulled her off of her bed, and crushed her to his body. Her petite frame causing her only to reach about mid-chest to his above average height.

"How are we going to explain that?" "Explain what?" "The door you almost ripped off last night" Ross looked over at said door, It was hanging only by the bottom hinge. Parts of the once solid wood had splintered and cracked where Ross' body had hit it. "Oh, well we uh… you see…we could…its simple really… I don't know" Lizzie's giggled lightly at Ross' flustering.

Now usually, Ross didn't like it when people laughed at him. It was usually about his stutter and tended to sound degrading. Not Lizzie's though. It sounded cute, innocent and happy. He wanted to hear more of her laughing.

"We could tell them the truth and just see what happens" "Now why didn't I think of that? I guess your just my little genius" "I'm not little" "You are to me" "Ross trains are little to you, I can't help it if I'm not 6'3" "Was that an insult Elizabeth?" "And if it was?" "Well I guess I will just have to teach you some manners" "How?" "Are you ticklish?" "What? Me, no of course not!" she looked down though, so Ross knew that she was lying. "I think you are" "No! I'm not!" she wiggled out of his grasp and backed away to the window.

Her eyes only left his for a second, when she heard Joker's neigh from the paddocks. Ross used this moment to his advantage and lunged. He quickly brought both arms up to her chest and held them there with his left are, while beginning to tickle her side with his right hand. She instantly began to squirm and shriek. "Ross! Stop it, I mean it!" she was laughing so hard that tears were coming out of her eyes. "Ross, I'm sorry I won't insult you again!" her laughter was like music to Ross' ears. "Ross, stop it! I'm going to pee my pants!" at that phrase Ross instantly let go of her.

Lizzie quickly danced away to her bed, which she began making. "I thought you had to go to the bathroom?" "Yeah…about that, I lied" She then smiled a heart stopping, beautiful smile. Ross walked over to her and cupped her small face in his large hands. "You are amazing" "You're pretty cool yourself" Ross leaned down and trapped her soft lips with his. As the kiss grew more heated, the height difference, once again, put a damper on the mood. Ross solved this by running his hands down her back, over the soft curve of her ass and rested them on her thighs. He quickly picked her up so she was straddling his waist, and pushed her up against the wall.

The amorous young couple didn't notice when Dallas walked by. He had come to wake them up, but quickly saw that they were wide awake and engaged in "other activities" and were both too wrapped up in each other to notice him. "Kids these days" could be heard coming from Dallas' mouth.


	13. Hurt

30 minutes after Dallas left for the barn, Ross joined him. "Morning" "Morning" "Morning" "Hey where's Wyatt?" "Haven't seen him yet" "Sam probably did something to set him off." "Yeah, you know how she can …Holy Crap! What happened to your face?" asked Pepper. "Huh? Oh yeah, well Lizzie had a pretty horrific nightmare last night, and when I went to wake her up, she thought I was someone else." "Man she almost took off half of your face that must have been some dream"

Wyatt soon came storming into the barn. His whole stance screamed "back off" his muttering something under his breath along the lines of "Damn no good teenagers" "Morning Wyatt" a grunt was the only response that Dallas received.

"What did Sam do this time?" "It's Jake this time, not to mention that she just happened to spend $500 from her collage fund on some godforsaken piece of scrap metal that apparently is supposed to be a freaking camera!" Ross decided to ask about a replacement door some other time.

Around 7 am Lizzie was standing in the kitchen helping Grace wash the dishes, while Henry "helped". "So Lizard face, you leaving finally? You did turn 18 after all" Lizzie's face became pale, and she drooped the dish that she was currently washing. "Yes I do suppose I will be leaving soon"

Grace saw this exchange, and Lizzie's reaction. She decided to talk to Wyatt about it. Just because the young girl had turned 18, it was no reason to throw her out on the street with nowhere to go.

Ross was glad to be returning. He was asked about 50 questions about his face from Pepper, and Dallas kept giving him weighted looks. He simply wanted to do his job, and then go to bed; the previous nights sleep deprivation finally catching up to him. Unfortunately fate had a different idea in mind.

As the returning ranch hands crossed over the bridge, they were assaulted with a horrendous sight. They saw Joker rearing wildly, with Lizzie desperately trying to hang on/control her horse. The HARP kids weren't helping, they instead turned to throwing stones and yelling, causing Joker to spook even more.

Sam and Jen were trying to get them to stop without much luck, while Jake was talking to Lizzie, telling her how to calm Joker down. Every time he tried to get close to the large animal, he would panic more and consequently rear more. "That's it Lizzie, shift your weight forward, Don't let him buck you off!" "I wasn't planning on!" screamed a frustrated Lizzie. All four guys leaped off of their horse to go over and help, but it was too late.

Joker reared one last final time, and started to fall backwards, with Lizzie still on him. This was bad, a horse falling on their rider, could kill the human partner. Lizzie kicked her legs out of the stirrups and attempted to fall so that she wouldn't become injured. Joker came crashing down, blocking Ross' view of Lizzie. Dallas, Wyatt, Sam and Jen had finally gotten control of the rambunctious kids while Jake and Pepper were now working on getting Joker away from his fallen rider. Ross bolted and leaped over the fence running towards a very still Lizzie.

He was trying to block out all of the different scenarios in his head. Best case, she was just a little bruised. Worst case, she could be paralyzed or dead. Brynna and Grace had come out to see what all of the commotion was.

When Ross finally reached his injured girl, the first thing that he noticed was that she hadn't moved an inch since the boys had pulled Joker off of her. Her normally pale skin was now ashen and unnaturally pale. Her strawberry blonde hair clung to her forehead. Ross reached down and gently cupped the side of her face. "Lizzie, Lizzie can you hear me?" nothing. "Lizzie, come on I-I, n-n-need you to…" Ross panicked. His stutter had started to take affect, and he couldn't seem to say anything any more.

Brynna took charge. "Ross we can't wait any longer, does her neck look like it has been injured?" Ross gently checked, and after finding no lumps, bumps of abnormalities shook his head. "Okay you're going to need to lift her up and carry her to the Buick. Place her in the back seat, and I'll drive her to the hospital, Grace can you call the Hospital and let them know that I'm on my way?" "Of course" "Okay then Ross, load her up."

Ross gently lifted Lizzie's small frame up and took her over to the Buick. No sooner than he had Lizzie in the back seat, Brynna took off driving like mad to get down to the hospital as fast as she could.

With Joker finally calmed and secured, and the HARP kids waiting in their own rooms, there was nothing left for Ross to do but sit and wait.


	14. Anger

It had been 3 hours since Ross had last seen Lizzie, and he wasn't fairing well. He'd been pacing the kitchen for the entire time, determined to at least be in the room when Brynna called with news about his girl. That very thought stopped Ross in his tracks. His girl? Since when had Lizzie been his girl? His mind quickly supplied the answer that when he held her in his arms while she slept, she became his.

Wyatt was currently trying to get information out of the delinquent teenagers. "okay one last time, you are trying to tell me that Joker reared all by himself, with no provocation and that Jake told you to throw the rocks, and that is why I currently have a young girl lying in a hospital injured ?" "Yeah dude, that's like, totally how it happened" said an indignant Tiffany. She was obviously mad that she was being punished.

"Okay then I'm sure that Jake will have no problem cooperating this fact, Jake? Can you, Sam and Jen please come in for a moment?" Jake quickly nodded and went off to get the two girls. Only now did the young teens start to look as if they were in trouble. Within minutes, every working employee of River Bend Ranch was in the kitchen, trying to see into the future to see how the HARP kids were going to get out of this doozy of a lie.

Jake, Sam, Jen, Wyatt, Dallas, Pepper and Ross were standing around the teens, all with their best poker faces on. The men especially looked quite fearsome. They began to stare down at the teens, waiting until one of them cracked. Thomas was the first to crack. Which was surprising since he had barley said 5 words to anyone the entire time he had been here. "Okay look you caught us. Joker spooked at a bird and then Henry began to aggravate him by yelling and throwing stones. He got us to join in by saying that Lizzie was sleeping with Jake, Ross, Pepper, Wyatt and even Dallas just so that she would be liked, and would be the favorite student. We of course didn't think about what he said and believed him so we joined in. I'm really sorry, I didn't mean for Lizzie to get seriously injured, I just hoped that she would learn a lesson."

The silence quickly became deafening. Every one was shocked that Henry could say something like that about sweet innocent Lizzie. Ross saw red. He was about to start strangling Henry when Wyatt spoke up. "Okay, Tiffany, Jeffrey and Thomas you may leave. I will discuss your punishments with your guides and have them tell you what they are tomorrow." The kids left in such a rush, one could think that they had just been told that they could leave permanently.

A very angry looking Wyatt then turned his attention to Henry, who had the gall to not even look upset. The teen was saved by the phone ringing. "Wyatt. How is she? Okay... okay, no don't worry about it... Wait what? He said What? Okay, drive safe is all.. yes I love you to." As he hung up an angry glint entered his eyes, one that only came when the cowboy was truly pissed off.

" That was Brynna. The doctors have just released Lizzie." he quickly put his hand up, signaling that he didn't want to be interrupted. "She's going to be okay, but she was pretty badly injured. Both bones in her lower right arm are broken, and the limb has been put into a plaster cast. While three ribs have been broken, thankfully they didn't puncture her lungs. Brynna said that they offered her pain meds but Lizzie refused them for some reason. The doctors also warned that she needs to take it easy so that her ribs don't cause any more damage. "

"So she's gonna be fine?" asked Dallas. The older man looked as if he had aged about ten years in this one day. "Yeah, she's a trooper." "Well that's great news to hear." said Grace looking relived. She and Lizzie had become much closer in the past two weeks. Lizzie's mother had skipped town when she was quite young, and she looked to Grace as the mother that she had never had.

"Yes but there is one problem. Brynna say that Henry here has been torturing Lizzie with snide comments and harmful pranks, including putting a live rattle snake in her bed, and leaving little notes that say "You're not worth it" written on them." Wyatt turned his full blown glare on the sullen boy in front of him. "So tell me Henry, what is it about Lizzie, that makes you want to torment her so?"

He turned to Wyatt and simply stated, "Once a slut, always a SLUT" Ross had had enough. In three long strides he had crossed the room, picked up the boy by his collar and slammed him against the nearest wall. "Okay you listen, and you listen good. I have had enough with you torturing that poor girl, and you are going to s-s-stop it right now!" His booming voice filled the room, and he only stuttered once, even though anger was one of the triggers. Henry however, seemed to have so sort of death wish that night.

"w-w-what's w-w-wrong R-R-Ross? Can't even sp-sp-speak p-p-p-properly?" said the smirking Henry. Just as Ross raised his fist to punch him, Pepper stopped him. "Ross you don't want to do this, Lizzie has already had enough violence in her life, don't add to it" Pepper then gave the older man a knowing look.

With a grunt Ross dropped the raised boy onto the floor, not to gracefully and walked out into the night air. He quickly walked down to the tack room, an punched some of the saddles for a few minutes to get his frustrations out. As he sat he noticed Pepper watching him. "Feel better?" "No" they stayed like that for a few minutes, no one seeing the need to fill the silence with conversation.

"How long have you known?" "That ya liked Lizzie? I saw the attraction the second you laid your eyes on her. I saw you two kissin' on the fence, and I heard the door indecent. I may act oblivious, but ya can't pull any wool over my eyes, I've known ya to long. I don't hold no judgment though. Lizzie is a sweet gal, and you deserve some happiness in your life for once. This is the first time in the two and a half years that I've known you, that you've smiled. Lizzie seems to return whatever affection that you give her too. My only warning though is this. Henry is gonna keep on antagonizing Lizzie. He's like a wolf after it's prey. He ain't gonna give it up. So next time ya want to pummel him, don't. The state would hold you responsible, and no one wants to see ya serve jail time."

With that, Pepper left, leaving Ross alone in his thoughts.

**A/N: I am really sorry about the looooong wait, real life unfortunately got in the way. This chapter wasn't typed on my computer, so their may be some mistakes in it sorry bout that, **


	15. Fear

Two hours later Lizzie was finally home. Wyatt and Grace had been talking and had quickly come to a decision on her living at River Bend. The two adults had agreed that as long as Lizzie worked around the ranch and helped out with chores and thing like that, then she could stay rent free.

The sound of the Buick driving over the bridge soon hit the resident's ears. Brynna hopped out and went over to the passenger's side to help out the young girl. Her strawberry blonde hair was still matted to her head from dried sweat, her old and slightly bloody shirt was hanging loosely and wrinkled over her small form. Her right arm was wrapped in a bright yellow plaster cast, and the outline of think bandages was visible against her ribs.

She walked into the kitchen and tried but ultimately failed to hide her wince when Grace hugged her, even though the older woman was gentle in her touch. "Here you are muffin" Grace said as she handed her a glass of water. "Thanks Gram" Lizzie had quickly started using that name after Grace had given her the nickname of muffin.

"How are you feeling?" asked Dallas. "Like I had a horse land on me. The pain isn't too bad though, just kind of a dull ache, unless I put pressure on it." "I'm glad to hear you're okay though." Dallas then whispered "Ross is in the tack room if you want to see him" "Thanks Dallas" Lizzie then turned to Grace and Brynna who were talking quietly in the kitchen. "If you don't mind I'm going to bed to try and get some sleep" "That's fine Lizzie just let me know if you need anything" Brynna mumbled distractedly.

She quickly made her way outside, passing by Pepper along the way. "Hey Lizzie how you doing?" "I'm okay Pepper just a little sore is all" "Don't worry I broke my arm last year. It takes a little getting used to but the pain doesn't last long. The worst part is dealing with the itching. Just do your self a favor and don't use a knife to scratch your arm." "I wasn't planning on it" She replied with a laugh.

Pepper's grinning face soon turned more serious. "Ross is in the tack room. Be careful, he's fairly angry at Henry still, and when he's angry his stutter acts up not to mention his patience." "Thanks for the warning" "Well I'm off to bed, goodnight Lizzie" "Night"

Lizzie carefully made her way over to the tack room. Deep down she was terrified. Every instinct that she had learned from her upbringing told her to turn around and run. Usually when a man was angry around her, they tend to lash out and hit whatever was closest to them. Lizzie being that object for most of her life.

She entered the tack room carefully. "Ross? Are you in here?" she stumbled around looking for the light switch when she felt a hand grab her shoulder. This action was by no means aggressive or painful, but that didn't stop Lizzie from screaming and running.

She ran towards the door until she tripped over a cord causing her to fall. Lizzie hit the ground with crushing force, the air leaving her lungs and her broken bones screaming in pain and protest.

The light finally came on and Ross began to slowly make his way over to Lizzie's crumpled form. "Lizzie? It's okay it's just me, no one else is here" He quickly went to help her up. "I'm s-sorry I, I just panicked is all" Ross gently cradled her in his large arms. He was just barley holding on to his temper. He had seen the fear, that shadow that had returned into her eyes. He was mad that Henry had caused her to get hurt, angry at her father and ex who had beaten and horribly scared her. But mostly Ross was angry at himself. He should have announced his prese3nce before s caring Lizzie. Now she was probably in worse pain.

"I'm sorry for scaring you Lizzie" "its okay I'm the one who's screwed up not you." Now Ross was really angry. "Don't ever say that Lizzie" his voice was deeper filled with the rage that he felt. It wasn't fair that Lizzie was suffering, feeling like she wasn't worth it or that she was screwed up.

He didn't notice though, how Lizzie tensed up. She was truly petrified now. Ross' face was contorted into a hard mask of rage, his entire posture tense like a coiled spring. In her short life, the troubled teen had only known pain from men. Seeing Ross so, so angry, she couldn't help but be afraid. She had only seen men this angry when they were angry at her. Lizzie curled into herself, pulling her knees up to her chest and closing her eyes, waiting for the attack that she thought was coming.

Ross looked down at Lizzie, feeling her trembling in his arms. He was shocked and more than a little insulted that she would think he would hit her. He took a few deep breathes and relaxed his stance. "Lizzie, I'm not going to hit you" She didn't move. "Lizzie I wasn't mad at you, I was mad at your situation, at the fact that I couldn't do more to protect you. But please let me make this clear to you, you are NOT screwed up, you ARE worth it, and I will spend the rest of time making sure that you believe it."

She had finally uncurled herself and looked up at him. Her emerald eyes looking up at his glistening with tears and filled with hope. "I'm sorry for thinking that you would hurt me, it was just instinct is all." "It's okay I don't blame you and I never will."

Ross quickly helped Lizzie up to her room promising to himself that he would make Henry pay for what he had done.


	16. Revenge

Ten days had passed since Lizzie's accident. Her ribs and arm were no longer in pain and she no longer had to wear bulky bandages around her ribcage. The ugly bruising came and went. Wyatt replaced Lizzie's door, after a few bad excuses from Ross. Thankfully Wyatt had been too occupied with the fact that Jake and Sam were now dating, and didn't really spare a second thought to the "I was sleepwalking" excuse that Ross had given him. For the most part, life around the ranch had been peaceful.

Wyatt had also sat Lizzie down and discussed with her the terms of her residence.

"_Lizzie, I first of all want to let you know that you aren't being kicked off the ranch. We have decided that you may stay under two conditions." "What are those conditions?" "You have to earn your keep, by doing chores and such and you have to help at the cattle herd in the fall." "Thank you Wyatt, thank you so, so much, I promise that I won't let you down!"_

Currently Lizzie was drawing out the horse pattern on Dallas' wall. This was going to be a massive project, but she was excited to display her artistic talents. Dallas walked in as she was sketching on the wall. "How's it coming?" "Good, I've always liked to draw horses so this is a fairly easy design for me." "That's good then"

Lizzie stopped and stepped back to look at the design. "I'm almost finished drawing the whole thing out, and them it should take maybe a week to paint it and everything." She paused before speaking again. "Dallas, can I ask you a question?" "Sure what is it?" "How did everyone know to get me art supplies for my birthday?" "Brynna saw you drawing in the lobby of the HARP building. She thought that you might like it." "Well thanks again. I really like the gifts and the work order."

After cleaning her supplies, and finally finishing drawing the giant horse out, Lizzie went to the kitchen to help make supper. The HARP kids were going home in five days, just after Slocum's Brama-Que. All had been completely rehabilitated, well almost all of them.

Henry for whatever reason would just not listen to authorities or anyone else that he deemed lesser then himself. He still tormented Lizzie, which prompted Ross to stick to her like glue as soon as he got back from the range. At least the kid had the sense to not go near the couple, for he would certainly lose at least 3 or 4 teeth.

Ross hadn't brought the topic of revenge up with Lizzie either, he knew that she didn't like or react well to violence, and he wanted to keep it away from her as much as possible.

However, what he didn't know was that Lizzie had already planned her own form of revenge. Dinner that night was going to be very, very eventful.

Everyone was just sitting down. The change in Tiffany, Jeffrey and Thomas was clear. They all looked stronger, tanner and their attitudes had done a complete 180°. They were now respectful, honest and off of any of the drugs that had been in their systems. There was a high probability of them going back into mainstream society, and not going back to a life of crime. Henry had only seemed to get worse to the supervisors of the HARP program. It was clear that he just couldn't be rehabilitated.

Lizzie brought plate after plate off food out to the ranch's occupants. She had taken the initiative to cook supper that night, without the help of anyone else. The small 115 pound girl had forced 12 people to sit down and just relax. She had worked incredibly had, and made a casserole for everyone, with cobbler for dessert.

Dinner was quiet, and relaxed with the exception of the tension between Sam, Jake and Wyatt. Lizzie had actually become closer with Sam and was only person who knew the whole story.

_Lizzie had been mucking out stalls when Sam had come storming in. "ughh I am so mad at my dad right now!" "Are you still grounded?" "Yes and he's being a totally jerk about it!" "I don't see why your dad is so mad about you dating Jake; I thought that he trusted Jake?" "I don't understand it either." The two girls continued with mucking stalls until Sam spoke up again._

"_So you and Ross eh?" __"How did you know?" "Women's intuition and I saw you last night behind the barn." "Is their anywhere that I can go on the Ranch where I won't be seen?" "No probably not"_

The two teenagers had bonded over the fact that they were both in fairly volatile relationships. Lizzie had to keep hers a secret and Sam had to defend hers constantly.

Grace noticed that Henry hadn't taken a single bite from his meal. She was quick to voice her displeasure over this fact as well. "Henry, why haven't you eaten any supper, Lizzie worked incredibly hard over this meal." "She probably poisoned it." "Then why are we all fine? Lizzie you didn't poison his meal did you?" "Of course not, I would never do that!"

Henry soon gave in and began to eat. He quickly finished his diner, right as Lizzie was bringing everyone some dessert. He quickly wolfed that down as well. After about 15 minutes though he didn't look very well. His skin was clammy and pale, he was even shaking slightly. Before anyone could ask if he was okay, he ran to bathroom with one hand on his stomach and another over his mouth. The sounds of Henry violently retching soon reached their ears.

Grace and Brynna were going to nurse Henry, Sam and Lizzie were going to clean while everyone else left for their rooms or in Wyatt's case, to stalk Jake and make sure that he left the property.

Sam and Lizzie were working quickly and quietly. Sam checked over her shoulder to make sure that no one was within hearing distance. "So what did you poison him with?" "I didn't poison him. If perchance I accidently put Ipecac into his meal instead of hot sauce, well then I'm sorry."

Sam was clutching at her stomach she was laughing so hard. She had already dropped the plate she was washing, and tears of good humor were now making their way down her cheeks. Lizzie was giggling as well, with an almost evil looking smile on her face. Wyatt picked that moment to stride into the kitchen and both girls fell silent. He barley glanced at them though, as he went onto the living room in order to watch the news.

The kitchen was silent once more until the sounds of the TV could be heard. "Wait until he finds out that I put laxatives into his dessert" and with that the girls broke out into laughter once again.


	17. Party

After two whole days of whacked out bodily functions, Henry returned to normal, with the small difference of not going within ten feet of Lizzie who he had affectionally named "devil woman". While no one blamed Lizzie at first, it became apparent that she really was the culprit after two days of giggling at every moan and groan coming from the bathroom. Henry also made sure to keep up a steady dialogue of "I hate that devil woman! She did this I'm telling you! Who else would have?"

Strangely however no one could find it in themselves to be mad at Lizzie's unique form of revenge.

Today was the day of Slocum's Brama-que. Everyone was going, including the ranch hands. Jake had asked Sam to go with him as sort of their first official "date". This way Wyatt couldn't say anything about it, because honestly, how much trouble could two teens get into at a crowded barbeque where there would be plenty of supervision?

Ross had also taken this opportunity to ask Lizzie out. He felt bad that they were acting like an official couple but had yet to go on a single date. He was falling head over heels for her, and secretly wanted everyone to see her on his arm, and to know that she was his.

Lizzie had been ecstatic about this, for she had also been having similar thoughts. After his offer, Lizzie had a sleepover in Sam's room, when Jen was there as well. Jen had been asked out by Ryan, and the three girls spent the night acting their age for once, and talking about there boys.

The day of the Party, the ranch was bustling with activity. The HARP kids were going home. Tiffany Jeffrey and Thomas all looked sad to leave, where as Henry looked like he was debating bolting or not. Every time he spared a glance Lizzie's way, his face turned a lovely shade of green and he had an almost terror filled look on his face.

As Brynna started pulling out Lizzie yelled, "If you want Henry I can give you the recipe to the casserole!" Apparently people can actually turn emerald green.

Lizzie got ready for the party quickly, putting on a green halter dress that matched her eyes and the necklace that she hadn't taken off since her birthday. She pulled on white ballet flats and ran a brush threw her spiky strawberry blonde hair. The black dye had faded completely and all that was left was her natural colour.

She only put on a little lip gloss and mascara. Ever since escaping from her previous home, she tried to wear as little make-up as possible. It only brought back painful memories, not to mention she had a boyfriend that complemented her on her beauty every time he saw her, with or without make-up. It was hard to not be confidant after that.

Sam followed her lead and ended up with white shorts, a yellow top and minimal makeup. Both of their dates were wearing there nicer looking flannel shirts and jeans. Once a cowboy, always a cowboy.

Ross let his eyes roam over Lizzie. She flushed bright red at his hungry gaze. "You look beautiful" he whispered before kissing her gently. They quickly made there way over to Jake's truck. The adults and Pepper had already gone over to help set up. Sam decided to warn Lizzie about the Slocum's.

"Okay so you've already met Linc, the pompous ass. He's crazy rich and thinks he's a cowboy 'cause he's bought the entire top of line products for his ranch. Now his Daughter Rachel is horrible. She will try to make you feel as bad as possible and has no qualms about destroying something valuable of yours. Ryan isn't too horrible, he's actually kind of cute" "Hey! I'm sitting right here!" exclaimed a mad Jake. "Just kidding Jake, besides Jen is dating him and I would never steal a man from her. Anyways no matter what happens stay polite and watch your back. Appearances are deceiving"

As they pulled up, there eyes were assaulted with the image of red whit and blue everywhere, including on the bulls and horses. "I'm all for patriotism but this looks like a kid on a sugar high decorated the place" Lizzie said "That's Linc for ya." Replied Ross. "Remember anything happens all you have to do is yell, and I'll save you" "MY knight in shining denim" Lizzie walked next to Ross on his right side. She still had to wear her cast for another 4 weeks and didn't want it to bump into Ross.

The couple walked around talking to people as they saw them. Ross had become more talkative since dating Lizzie. She never judged him or made fun of his stutter so he relaxed around her easily. Coincidentally, the more he relaxed the less he stuttered. He only stuttered when he had an extreme of an emotion such as anger or fear. Whenever they talked to someone, Ross introduced Lizzie as his girlfriend. They had both decided that it was time to tell people.

Their day away from the ranch was going well; they had just met up with the Foresters minus Sam and had just broken the news. The three adults were quick to congratulate the young couple, but secretly they already knew. They were laughing and having a grand ole' time, until Rachel and Linc approached them.

"Well howdy there neighbor! Ya'll having a good time?" Linc was dressed in an outfit that no sane person would dare be caught in. Rachel was looking in a small compact mirror not paying attention to anyone around her. Brynna was the first to speak up. "We are having a nice time Linc, thank you again for inviting us." Ever the diplomat. Linc then noticed Lizzie, who was desperately trying to hide behind Ross. "Hey there Betty, after seeing the place don't cha wish that you could stay here?" Lizzie took a deep breathe and tried to keep calm. "Actually Mr. Slocum my name is Lizzie, and while your place is incredibly nice, I like staying at River bend."

Rachel then decided to look up and away from her precious mirror. She noticed how close that Ross was standing to Lizzie, and how he had one of his arms wrapped around her. "So Lizzie are you and Ross dating?" "Yes we are, we have been for about 3 weeks." "What does he see in a little tart like you?" at that moment you could have heard a pin drop. Rachel was used to every guy in town lusting after her and it appears that she didn't want any competition.

Ross could feel Lizzie tense up in him arms, and he could tell that it was from pure unadulterated rage. "Excuse me for a moment" She stormed off, to calm down otherwise she felt that she might hit the little Slocum girl. Lizzie may not like violence, but it didn't mean that Rachel didn't deserve to be knocked down a few pegs.

She walked over to on of the barns and leaned against it. She had moved a fair distance away, and within the shade of the barn, she could see, but couldn't be seen. After a few deep breathes she heard someone clear their throat. She looked over and saw a tall, skinny and greasy looking guy. His blonde hair was slicked back and he had a creepy smirk on his face. He reminded her of her fathers "buddies"

"Hey there little lady, you here alone?" "No, I'm here with my boyfriend." "Well he must not make you very happy if you over here." She chose not to respond. He was steeping closer to her with each word, and really starting to creep her out. She had been in situations like this too may times. She silently scanned the crowds looking for Ross' tall and sturdy frame, until an arm blocked her view.

"The name's Larry, what's yours?" "No of your business" "Oh feisty, I like that in a girl. You and me should go back to my room and have a party of our own." "No thank you" Larry was standing way to close for comfort and the smell of sweat, smoke and Axe was making her sick. "I wasn't asking" his leer made the hair on the back of her neck stand up, and she started to look for a way to run.

She opened her mouth and just before she could scream, he roughly pushed his lips onto hers. His arms grabbed hers and she started to fight, desperate to get away. One of his hands began to roughly grope at her chest and the panic began to set in. Lizzie started to have major flashbacks, the panic making her dizzy. She started to plead in her head silently, _Help me Ross…_


	18. Please

**AN: MUST READ! Due to the content of the next couple of chapters I am changing the rating to "M" There won't be anything to horrible, but there will be some adult scenes and some violence, other than that the story will be the same.**

Ross looked all over the ranch for his girlfriend but to his displeasure, he could not find her. He was almost desperate in his search, every minute that passed only added to his paranoia. Finally he saw her about 100 feet away. There was some sleazy guy hanging around her and she looked very uncomfortable.

When he saw Larry start to assault Lizzie, he broke out into a flat out run. He was there within seconds, ripping Larry off of Lizzie. She let out a gasp of pain and relief as she was freed. Ross looked at her to see if she was injured and Larry used this brief lapse of attention to kick Ross in the back of the knee, causing him to fall.

"Ross!" Lizzie cried out. "G-g-g-go, he-he-help!" was all Ross managed to stutter out before Larry began to throw punches. Lizzie ran away from the two men who were in an all out brawl. She started to scream, "Help, please someone help me!" Dallas and Pepper were the first to come over to her.

"What's wrong?" "A-a-a-a man attacked…and R-R-Ross, fighting" she broke down into sobs then unable to continue. Dallas grabbed her before she fell to the ground while Pepper went over to where Ross was leaving the beaten body of Larry on the ground.

"What happened?" "This piece of scum was assaulting Lizzie" "Dude you should get that eye of yours checked out" Ross' left eye was becoming swollen already, from Larry nailing him with a well placed right hook. "Nah I'm gonna take Lizzie back" "k, I'll deal with meat bag over here"

Ross went over to where Lizzie was and gently took her from Dallas. "Tell Jake I'm taking his truck back" "Ill give him a ride home" replied the older man.

As the young couple drove away from the dying party, they were surrounded by a tense silence. Neither one really knew what to say. Lizzie's tears had stopped flowing, but Ross's eye was now swollen shut. They quickly arrived at the ranch, and yet not a single word had been said.

Ross started to walk towards the kitchen in order to get some ice with Lizzie following him. "Where's your first-aid kit?" "Under the bathroom sink" Ross sat with the ice on his eye while Lizzie went to get the kit. She came back and began to dress his wounds with surgeon –like skill. Other than a busted eye, he only had a few scrapes and bruises.

"Where did you learn first-aid?" "It's a long story" "I've got nothing but time." "Well because my dad hit me so often I was always in the ER. At first it could be explained by clumsiness, but soon the nurses caught on. We had to go to different hospitals, and slowly my dad stopped taking me there. I used to watch what the nurses did to treat my wounds, so I was able to do it to myself."

She was now sitting in the chair with her long legs tucked up, resting her head on her knees, with her arms wrapped tightly around her legs. She looked emotionally fragile, like se would fall a part at any moment. Ross not knowing what to say to that didn't say anything. Once again a tense silence fell over the two.

"Thank you for saving me today" The tone in which she said made Ross realize that she thought he had only done it out of obligation rather than real emotion. "Come on" "What?" "Just come on" he grabbed her hand and led her down to the bunkhouse and into his bedroom. "Sit" he said pointing her to the bed. He quickly pulled out a small notebook from between his mattress and after opening it to the right page, handed it to her. "I've never shown anyone this, but I want you to read it" She looked quizzically at him but listened and began to read.

_Strawberry hair, Green gems I know,_

_With skin of peach, and jeans hung low,_

_She is the girl I was born to love_

_Though here soul is weary_

_And her life's been dreary_

_This angel is like a dove_

She looked up at him with tears in her eyes and a soft expression on her face. "Lizzie, I helped you, because I, well it's just I" "I love you" she interrupted. "I love you too." She leaned forward and captured his lips in a soul searing kiss. She gently began to push him back, until he was leaning against the head board as she straddled his hips.

He ran his tongue against her bottom lip, asking for entrance. As their tongue's battled for dominance, he felt Lizzie's hands run up underneath his shirt. While they had had hands involved with their make-out sessions, this was going further than before. She quickly rid him of his shirt and was busy running her hands over his chest abs and back, while she peppered kisses down his neck and sucked lightly on a particular spot on his collarbone, making him moan loudly.

It wasn't until, he felt two small hands try to unbuckle his belt that coherent thought returned to him. He grabbed her small hands in his. They stopped, both panting. "Lizzie, what are you doing?" he asked. "Taking this to the next level, what did you think I was doing?" "We've only been dating for three weeks" "Romeo and Juliet only knew each other for a few days" "one they were fictional characters, and two you were attacked today, are you sure that your not just doing this out of retaliation?"

She looked away. "If you didn't want me Ross, you could have just said so" she jumped off of him and began to leave. "Lizzie wait." She stopped. "I do want you. I've wanted you since the moment I first saw you. I just know that you went threw a very traumatic event today, and I just don't want you to do something, that come tomorrow morning you will regret."

"Well I'd hate to tell you this but I've been threw worse. To be honest I'm insulted that you would even think that I would make a decision like this without first taking in account my emotional state!" by the end of her speech, she was screaming.

"See, that right there tells me that you aren't in the right frame of mind to answer these questions. Your barley controlling your emotions right now, and to be honest when we decided to take the next step, I want it nothing to get in the way. I don't want to do this if you're so worried about losing control of your emotions that you don't enjoy yourself and feel what you're supposed to."

She started to pace back and forth, her arms wrapped tightly around her body as if to protect her. "It's just, today's incident triggered memories for me, and it's all I can think about now. I've wanted this for a while now, but all I can think about is what's happened to me and I don't like it. I feel like a victim all over again. Please Ross, I just want to forget the past and go into the future."

"I-I-I j-just don't w-want to t-take advantage of you like this." Ross was deliberating. Part of him was overjoyed that she wanted to take this further, but the other part was telling him that she was only doing this because of flashbacks.

Lizzie looked at him for a few moments, emerald eyes glistening with unshed tears, before she walked over. She gently pushed him down onto the bed before straddling him and looking straight into his eyes. "Please Ross; I want you, and only you. I've thought about this before and I'm not going to regret this. So please for me? Please."

**Hope you liked it; please remember that I'm changing the rating for the next chapter**


	19. Intamicy

Ross was debating in his head. While part of him wanted this more than anything, the other more rational part of him said that she wasn't ready for this. He looked into her eyes deeply and contemplated his choices. Finally he let out a low groan before capturing her lips.

Lizzie now glad of her victory, kissed him back with a renewed vigor. Ross let one of his hands slide to her hip and the other moved into her hair. Lizzie let hers rest on his shoulders. When she got a little bored at the pace they were going at she started to grind her hips into Ross's, delighting in his moans.

Ross gently let his hands trace the curve of her spine, sending shivers throughout her body. Slowly, they started to pull at the hem of her dress, lifting it up and off of her body. "Just to let you know I do have some scars" Lizzie said, breaking away from the never ending kiss. "They don't bother me, just like my stutter doesn't bother you." replied Ross.

He quickly rolled them, so Lizzie was now stretched out on the bed, her lean body fully on display. Her pale skin contrasted beautifully against the black bra and panty set. The delicate lace hiding everything, yet nothing, all at the same time. Seven faint scars crossed her torso, but to Ross they only made her look more beautiful. It showed that she truly was a survivor.

Lizzie blushed at Ross' though examination of her body. He lowered his head to her neck and started to leave a trail of bright red hickeys, marking her as his for the whole world to see. As he continued to hit sensitive spots, her moans grew louder and subsequently made his jeans become painfully tight.

He reached around to her back and began to fumble with the bra clasp. "Ross, Ross honey?" He stopped thinking that she had changed her mind. "The clasp is in the front." "Oh." She started to laugh at his expression; one of relief mixed with joy and a lot of embarrassment. The laughing stopped with an abrupt gasp as she felt his mouth on an already peaked nipple.

"Oh god, Ross" she cried, her hands weaving there way into his short brown hair. His mouth continued its torturous attack, while his hand played with the neglected breast. Her soft moans and whimpers were already driving Ross insane. As his mouth switched sides, her pleading and begging started.

"R-Ross, please, I-I-I need more" she lifted her hips and began to grind them upwards into his. He almost collapsed from the sensations. Lizzie's hands traveled downward and snaked their way into the top of his jeans. She quickly found his already hard length and gave it a slight squeeze. He bucked involuntarily into her hand. "Fuck Lizzie, if you want this to go any further I would suggest not doing that again." "Didn't know you went commando cowboy" she breathed.

He carefully pulled her hands up and held them together above her head. "I don't know how much longer I can control myself, tell me to stop now and I will. The choice is yours." Ross let his gaze wander down her body. Flushed pink skin, dilated green eyes, swollen lips and strawberry hair that was mussed up from hands being entangled in it. She looked perfect. "I don't recall asking you to stop"

Lust clouded blue eyes met green ones, and whatever little control the young couple had was now gone. Lips and hands moved over one another in a fresh frenzy, and this time Ross didn't fight it when he felt Lizzie's hands pull off his belt. She quickly pushed down his jeans while his hands made short work of panties.

He quickly reached over to the bedside table, looking for one of the many colourful foil packages. He quickly put on one of the condoms and aligned himself up with her entrance. With one last look for conformation, he pushed inwards. Two loud moans filed the air, although one had a slight tinge of pain within it. "Are you okay?" "Yeah it's just been a while, and you're not exactly small"

He buried his head into the crease of her neck and sucked on the area where neck met collarbone, now knowing that it drove her wild. His hands traced lines on her skin, leaving imaginary trails of fire behind. Lizzie bucked her hips against his, signaling that she was ready.

He started a slow pace that quickly gave way to one that was much faster. Moans and groans filled the other wise silent room. "God Lizzie, you feel so good" "Ross, I'm close" moaned Lizzie. In response Ross moved his right hand down to her throbbing clit, and started alternately circling and pressing on it. "Ah fuck right there!" any coherent thought flew out of Lizzie' mind as her speech was reduced to a chant of "Don't stop, don't stop, don't stop" while her nails ran lightly down his back.

Feeling white hot fire pool in his lower abdomen, he knew he was close. Lizzie suddenly wrapped her legs high up around his waist, letting him thrust in deeper. Ross swore he saw stars at the new feeling. Lizzie's body started to shudder, before she let out one final scream. "Fuck, Ross!" feeling her walls clamp down on his length, he cried out her name before shuddering to his own orgasm.

The couple stayed like that for a few more minutes, slightly rocking to prolong the feelings of pure bliss. Ross excused himself to get cleaned up before rejoining her in the small double bed. He pulled her body towards him, for she hung completely limp. "I'm blaming you if I can never feel my bones again" He chuckled softly. "Sorry, by your reaction, I thought you were enjoying it." "I didn't say I wasn't enjoying it, but if I can never walk again then it's your fault." "Well that's one thing I don't mind taking the blame for."

They lay there for a few more minutes in the comfortable silence of the afterglow. Lizzie was the first to speak. "I love you" "I love you too" "We should probably shower before this stuff dries." "You're leaving?" Ross felt disheartened at that. He would have thought that she would have stayed for at least a little while longer. "As cute as you are when you pout honey, I'm not leaving." She got out of the bed stumbling slightly, not used to the feeling of her bones turning to jelly, and catching herself on the dresser. Ross had a perfect look at her naked form. She turned with a small glare and a smile when she heard Ross laughing softly. "Need help?" "No, of course not! I'm fine."

She took another step only to stumble again. Luckily having anticipated this Ross was already behind her ready to catch her. He gave her a pointed look. "Fine, can you help me into the shower then?" he picked her up bridal style, ignoring the yelp of protest. He lowered her gently into the showers stall, quickly turning to leave. He stopped when he felt her hand on his hip. She had a devious smirk on her face. "You should have realized by now, that I never once said I wanted to shower alone"

Within minutes the sounds of running water, moans and laughter from two people could be heard.


	20. Aftermath

The next morning Ross was the first to awaken. The sun was just starting to peek in through the drapes casting a soft light on everything within the room. He shifted slightly so that he was on his side, facing Lizzie. Her sleeping face held no emotion, simply a blank canvas. He let his eyes trail down the length of her body. He took extra time to look at the scars on her abdomen.

Only now did it hit him just how lucky he was that she was still alive. There were six small scars scattered about. They looked like they were caused by a smaller knife, being only an inch in length. It was the biggest scar that worried him. It was located in between two ribs, on the left side of her ribcage, where her heart was situated. This scar was at least 3 inches long.

His hand started to trace the scars, as if it could erase them. Lizzie started to stir under the gentle touch. Her green eyes looked into Ross' brown ones and her face broke out into a bright grin. "Morning" "Morning". Her eyes searched his face, looking at something above his lip intently. Her small hand traced the line of a small scar. "How did you get that?" "Long story" At the reminder of the embarrassing story, Ross felt his face heat up in what was no doubt a bright red blush.

"No it's not, you're just embarrassed. Come on tell me!" "I'd rather not" "Please?" her lips settled into a cute pout as her arms circled his neck. He sighed but decided to tell her, unable to resist her inquisitive gaze. "Alright, well when I first got here, I didn't know how to shoot a gun, something that Wyatt told me was essential for a cattle rancher to know. Anyways I wasn't really paying attention when he said that the gun can sometimes draw back, S-S-So when I-I went to shoot, it um, it kinda went flying back and h-h-hit me in t-t-the face." By now Ross was blushing furiously and mumbling. Lizzie laughed softly. "So you're saying that I'm dating a klutz?" "Yep" she smiled up, her eyes sparkling in the morning light.

Within seconds the two were locked in a heated make-out session. "We should probably get up" "Yeah, we should" Ross quickly captured her lips in a passionate kiss one last time before they started to get dressed. The day started off normal. Although Pepper was making as many crude jokes and remarks around them, delighting in their simultaneous blushes.

The day started to turn ugly though when Linc Slocum arrived. Lizzie was helping Grace in her garden when the trademark Cadillac rolled in. A red-faced and obviously angry Slocum came barreling out of the car. "Where's Wyatt?" he shouted, spooking some of the horses at the same time. "Hello Linc, Wyatt is in the barn right now, working with the Ferrier. What seems to be the problem?" "The problem is that one of his workers assaulted one of mine!" A terrible feeling settled into the pit of Lizzie's stomach. Was Ross going to get in trouble for helping her?

"What on earth are you talking about? None of our hands are capable of such a thing!" Wyatt came out of the barn just then with the rest of the staff. "What's going on?" Linc however, ignored Wyatt completely and rushed over to Ross. "Who the hell do you think you are? Running in and beating up one of my hands simply 'cause he helped your girl when she was injured! Well answer me!" Linc was screaming by now, and Ross looked cornered. While his lips were moving, no sound came out and he looked terrified and angry. Lizzie couldn't let this continue so she quickly rushed in. "I said answer me you idiot!" "HEY! Ross isn't an idiot you ass-hole! And he wouldn't beat up someone unnecessarily, what the hell do you think you're talking about!"

The scene almost looked comical. The tall, strong man, standing behind the petite, short girl, who was defending him. If it wasn't for the severity of the situation, most would have been laughing. "Yes Linc, what is this all about?" Wyatt asked, irritated that he was heckling one of his employee's. "My guy Larry saw Lizzie crying, saying that her boyfriend hits her and he went to comfort her. That's when Ross came in and started to attack him for no good reason."

Everyone stood shocked, how could Linc accuse Ross of doing something like that, they wondered. Lizzie was the first to react though. "WHAT! Ross has never, ever laid a finger on me, let alone hit me. The real story is that Larry assaulted me! He saw me and started to grope me! Ross was merely protecting me form getting raped yet again! Your man is a liar and should rot in prison for the rest of his miserable existence!" "Well that's not how Larry tells it, don't worry Betty, we'll get you away from this horrible man." Linc's meaty hand wrapped around her broken wrist and gave it a sharp yank. Lizzie let out a yelp of pain as she felt the broken bones shift. "Let go of me!" He quickly let go, lest he be the one under arrest, and she tumbled back. Ross luckily caught her before she could get seriously injured.

Officer Heck soon showed up. After listening to Linc's story and Lizzie's, he decided that he would have to talk to Larry first, before making any serious decisions. "I'll be back in a few hours, Linc you'd better leave now" was all he said before leaving. Just as Linc turned to get into his car, Lizzie screamed out "and for the last time, my name ISN'T BETTY!"

The occupants of River bend stood in stunned silence for a few minutes before Wyatt spoke up. "Well we'd better go back to work. Nothing left to do but wait anyways." They separated and left all except Lizzie and Ross.

"I'm so, so sorry Ross, this is all my fault." "No it isn't, I didn't have to attack Larry the way I did. I could have just pulled him off you" "I guess it would be inappropriate to say that I liked knowing that you beat him up." Ross let out a humorless laugh. Lizzie quickly glanced around before kissing Ross softly, asking silently whether he would be okay. After pulling away he simply said, "We'll just have to wait" before going back to the barn.

**Man it's been a while, sorry about that, anyways let me know what you think, I love to hear your feedback!**


	21. Letters

Time went by slowly that afternoon. Lizzie was jumping at every little noise. Ross wasn't doing much better himself. He kept looking at his watch, counting the minutes as they passed by. Finally at 3 pm Officer Heck's car pulled up. He left the car and went to find Ross. "Ross?" "Yes officer?" "Well I have some good news for you, I found some more witnesses and they told the same story that you and Lizzie did. So basically you're off of the hook, now do you know if Lizzie wants to press charges?" "I don't know sir." "Well I'll go ask her then, you have a good day now." "You too!" Ross left out a sigh of relief. If not for his reputation, he may have started dancing.

Officer Heck went to where Lizzie was pulling weeds out of the garden with vigor. "Lizzie?" "Oh hi, look is Ross going to be okay, because he was only defending me, he didn't mean to hurt anyone." She was almost shaking she was so nervous about Ross' fate. "Calm down Lizzie, I only came to tell you that your story was confirmed by witnesses, so we aren't pressing charges against Ross." "Oh thank god." "I also wanted to ask if you wanted to press charges against Larry." "Yeah I want to." "Okay so I will need you to write out a statement…"

Heck talked to Lizzie for the next two hours. Grace invited him to stay for supper as well. This made it so that Lizzie and Ross were both sharing relief filled glances throughout the night. Finally the chores were done, the guest had left and Ross and Lizzie were alone. Ross was putting away Tanks saddle when he felt a small weight jump on his back. He quickly brought Lizzie's body around to face him, and he felt his face become covered in light butterfly kisses.

"We did it! They believed us! You're safe!" Seeing her grin made Ross' face break out into one of it's own. "We did it honey" he replied before capturing her lips in a heated kiss. They spent a few minutes like that before Lizzie pulled away with a yawn. "Oh am I boring you now?" Ross teased "No I'm ju-" her sentence was cut off by another yawn. Ross then let her down and led her back to her room. They said their goodnights before going to sleep in their own separate rooms for the night.

That same night Ross woke up to the sound of someone knocking. He went to the door despite the early time of 1 am. As he had suspected Lizzie was standing there. "What's wrong "He whispered. "I kept having nightmares and I was wondering if I could sleep in your room tonight?" "Yeah of course." Lizzie took a quick glance around the room. It mirrored hers in terms of furniture and was neat with just a few touches that told her that this was Ross' room. The old spice aftershave, the journals that were filled with hand-written poetry and a laundry basket with dirty clothes in it.

Ross had sat back down on the bed and patted the spot next to him. ." Lizzie was quick to sit next to him "So tell me what was the nightmare about?" "Just the same one I keep having, of not getting to my sister on time." They soon lied down and not long after that fell asleep.

The next two months went by in a blur. Ross and Lizzie's relationship was going strong. They hardly had any alone time though so any romantic meetings happened where ever and whenever they could. Since the night of Lizzie's nightmares, they had taken to sleeping in the same room; either hers or his it didn't really matter, just as long as they were in the same room. Lizzie loved staying at the ranch as well. She earned her keep and was now just as good at riding horses as anyone of the men. She had also finished Dallas' painting. A beautiful sepia coloured horse mounted the wall of his room now. Larry had also been tried by Lizzie. He plead guilty knowing that he would loss the trial anyways and was now serving two years in prison on the counts of assault and sexual assault. Everyone was happy and getting ready for the fall cattle drive.

Even Wyatt was in a better mood then he had been in for the past while. He had finally accepted the fact that Sam and Jake were dating and that she had spent $500 on a new camera. In fact, they often went on double dates with Lizzie and Ross. Although they would usually spilt up and go on separate dates, then come home together to erase suspicion. This year looked like it was going to be a good one for the cattle so even thought Slocum was going to be on the cattle drive, everyone was still excited.

Until that is, the day that Lizzie was the one to get the mail. At first it appeared normal, a few bill some flyers, a letter from Lizzie's younger sister (Who was staying at her aunt's house) but there was one odd letter. It had no return address and looked to be completely had written. It was addressed to her. She opened it and upon looking at the letter, she let out a small scream and dropped everything.

Inside the letter was written "You will pay" in what looked to be blood. She looked at the writing for five minutes, trying to decipher who had written it.

She looked around trying to see if anyone was watching her, before picking up the remaining mail and running into the main house. She came in panting and ignoring Grace's remained about the slamming door. "Someone just sent me this letter!" Wyatt took it from her, but for some reason didn't look shocked. A fact that Lizzie picked up on. Living in a volatile home had taught her to analyze people very well. He showed it to Brynna who placed a hand to her mouth but didn't look shocked either.

"What's going on?" asked Lizzie, who had since grown angry at the silence and lack of surprise. "nothing, we'll have to call officer Heck about this though." Wyatt said. Just as he picked up the phone, Lizzie placed her thumb of on the disconnect button. "what aren't you telling me?" "Lizzie" "No I'm serious, what are you hiding from me?"

The adults seemed to share a knowing glance at each other, and Lizzie saw Grace nod her head ever so slightly. "Lizzie, this isn't the first of the letters." "What? What are you talking about?" "You've been getting them for two months now."

**Oh cliff hanger I know, but I would really love some reviews for this chapter, please let me know how you like the story so far!**


	22. Fight

Lizzie stared in shock at the occupants of River Bend's kitchen. She was positive that they were playing some sort of cruel joke on her. If they truly had been receiving these letters for the past two months they would have told her right? They wouldn't have just lied to her and said nothing about it. Besides these were her letters, for any one of them to open one would be considered a federal crime. She finally voiced her feelings, careful to keep her voice neutral.

"How did you know that I was getting these letters?" "I accidentally opened one of them when they first started arriving; I thought that it was a bill of some sort. When I saw the message I showed it to Wyatt, we both simply thought that it was a prank, maybe from one of Slocum's hands. But soon more arrived. You've been getting about two a week. We just didn't want to hurt you and thought that this was the better solution." Brynna finished her speech with a look of remorse on her face.

Lizzie's mind was reeling. She knew who wrote these too. Her father. He used to leave letters like this in her old school locker or backpack to remind her to keep her mouth shut. Getting these letters now meant that he had found her. She tried to think of when he did track her down. Then she remembered the phone call on her birthday, the day she threw her cell phone into the river, how she felt like she was being watched. "My father's been the one sending these. He knows that I'm here." The kitchens occupants watched as her face became pale, right before she passed out.

When Lizzie awoke she found herself lying upon a couch with a damp cloth on her head. Ross was the one holding it there. "Ross? What's going on?" "You passed out; Wyatt moved you here." The fear that had caused the young girl to pass out earlier came back full force. "Oh God Ross, what am I going to do? He's coming for me I just know it!" Ross pulled the distraught girl into his arms in a desperate attempt to calm her down.

"How could they keep that kind of information from me?" "They t-tried to protect y-you is all." "You don't understand Ross, it's not just my life were talking about anymore, by hiding those letters from me they've endangered the lives of everyone here!" "I d-do understand Lizzie, I-" She cut him off before he could finish though.

"What are you talking about? How could you possibly even begin to fathom what I've been through or what I'm going through? There is a man who has terrorized and beat me practically every day of my life since I was six, and he's coming after me. You have no idea what that's like, so don't patronize me Ross."

Lizzie stormed out of the ranch house, leaving Ross standing dumbfounded in the living room.

Pepper was the one to go after her. He had been in the kitchen when they had there fight, and he had heard everything. He went looking for Lizzie, knowing that he had to talk to her about something incredibly important.

He found her sitting on the bridges railings. Her face was streaked with tears and her hair was mussed up from her running her hands through it repeatedly. "Hey Lizzie" There was no reply from the distraught girl. "Lizzie I heard the fight that you had with Ross today." She turned to Pepper so that she could look him in the eyes. "So you understand my problem with what he said then." "Yes, but there is something you should know." 

He took a deep breath before launching into his mini speech. "Do you know why Ross came here?" She shook her head. "Well he didn't have a good home life. His father used to beat him, and his mother was a constant supply of verbal abuse. When he was seventeen, he bolted. He tried construction, but had problems with his stutter. So he came here."

Lizzie's eyes were filled with horror. "Oh God, and I said that he didn't understand when he was the one person who knew more about it than anyone. I'm a terrible person." "No your not, you had no way of knowing, Ross never talks about it. Go, find him and then apologize. He won't be mad I can promise you that."

She didn't waste anymore time. She jumped off of the fence post and ran to the barn. She had seen him go in there. He had grabbed cleaning supplies, so he was probably going to clean Tank's tack. It seemed to be all of the men's way of thinking through things.

He was there, his back turned to the door. He didn't hear her come in because when she placed a hand on his arm, he jumped slightly. "I'm sorry Ross, I'm so, so sorry. Pepper told me about your childhood, and here I am yelling that you don't understand. I'm sorry, please don't be mad." She had dropped her head down to the floor, terrified of seeing his expression. He put his hand under her chin and gently tilted her head up. "I'm n-not mad Lizzie. I understand as w-well."

Ross pulled her into his arms, to reassure her and to stop her tears. "What was your childhood like? You don't have to tell me if you don't want too." "I'll tell you, it'll t-take a w-w-while t-though." Ross told Lizzie how his early years were normal and peaceful. Then his father lost his job as a bank manager and began drinking. Eventually he started to beat Ross, and it got worse when it became apparent that he wouldn't lose his stutter. His mother would abuse him verbally, because she saw his father's drinking habits as being caused by him.

By the time he was finished his eyes were watering slightly and Lizzie was full on sobbing. "You understand better than anyone. I'm sorry for lashing out at you earlier; I'm just so terrified at the thought of my father knowing where I am." "It'll be okay, I'll p-protect you. No m-matter w-what."

**First of all I want to apologize for the long update period, unfortunately writers block can be stubborn. Secondly, there is going to be about four or five more chapters in this story, and it will be finished. I refuse to post a story and then just abandon it. Thank you for your patience and to everyone who has reviewed, favorited or put this storey on their alerts.**


	23. Tension

**I am terribly sorry for the long wait; unfortunately my computer broke down and erased all of my work. To make up for the wait, I am giving you two chapters today, and then another one tomorrow.**

Time passed slowly from then on. They had gone to the police to explain what was going on. Ross had sat outside of the interrogation room listening to the details of Lizzie's past life. An abusive father, and boyfriend, a neglectful mother, it was a miracle that she had come out as the nice person she was. Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot that they could do. Her father hadn't made a move yet, and there was no way of tracking him down. For now, they had to sit and wait.

The stress was getting to everyone. Wyatt forbade them all from going anywhere without at least two other people, and to never go out at night. People were snapping more, and paranoia had set in. The scars on Lizzie's body showed that her father wasn't afraid to kill someone if he had to.

Lizzie was having the worst time. The letters kept coming and became more graphic. She was on her guard at all times, flinching at the smallest of noises. The shadow had re-entered her eyes and Ross realized that she had fully regressed to her past behavior. She had become guarded, stopped talking and had become silent. She had scared more than one person with her silent walking. She had started to run on past survival instinct. Don't be heard or seen, than you won't get hurt. That was what life had taught her to do when she was in danger, and it was just now that the adults were hit with the severity of Lizzie's past. The final straw for Ross came a few nights ago.

He had entered her bedroom, getting ready to go to sleep. She had been sitting by her window studying the terrain, and had not heard him enter. He walked up behind her, placed a hand on her shoulder and said her name softly. She jumped back, and tripped over a pillow. She looked so frightened, so threatened; it tore at Ross' heart. This was his girlfriend yet she was terrified when he came near her without warning. She had apologized, and while he had understood, he wanted this fiasco to end.

He went to the police and begged them, even with his stutter, to do something, anything at all. They gave him the same answer they had before, that there was nothing that they could do.

At the same time, Lizzie made the hardest decision that she ever had too. She decided to confront her father once and for all. She was tired of living her life in fear. She hated knowing that he could go after her little sister next. So she packed a small bag, a change of clothes, some water and food. She threw in about a hundred dollars of cash, just in case. The last item she needed to steal from Ross. As much as she hated having to revert to her old habits, it was the only way she could finish this fight. Besides, Ross would understand. He might was the only person who knew the kid of stress she was going through, and was also the only one who understood why she had to do this.

She waited until Ross had fallen asleep. They were in his room, the perfect setting for her plan. After she was a hundred percent positive that he was fast asleep, she acted. She slipped out of the bed and got dressed. Years of learning how to be dead silent, worked to her advantage. She looked under Ross' bed and saw what she needed to steal.

She pulled out a black case from under the bed's frame. It was locked; Lizzie carefully started to pick the small lock. After a minute it popped open with a small click. She froze and waited in perfect silence. Once it had become apparent that Ross hadn't heard it, she opened the case. Inside sat a rarely used gun. She pulled it out and grabbed the box of bullets, stuffing both items into her bag. She pulled out a note that she had written earlier and placed it on her pillow. After double checking to see that she had put everything away, Lizzie left the bunkhouse.

Ross rolled over a few minutes too late. He awoke when he realized that his girlfriend was not there. He saw the note and ripped it open, struggling to read it in the dim light of his bedroom. As his eyes scanned each line, his blood grew cold and he struggled to breathe. He leaped out of bed and tripped over something hard. With a new horror, he realized that his gun was gone.

He dressed rapidly and raced outside, not caring if he woke anyone up. His mind was racing. Surly Lizzie wasn't going to actually do this. This had to be some horrible joke. Joker was gone as well. He ran fast, trying to see if she was still within eyesight. His well-trained eyes scanned the empty desert but no avail. Lizzie had seemingly disappeared into the night. Despite his desperate attempts to convince himself that he was dreaming, or that this was a joke, He knew that this was real. And that Lizzie wasn't going to come back until her father was out of their lives for good.

By now Dallas and Pepper had come out, trying to see what the commotion was. "Ross, what's going on?" Pepper asked. "I- sh-she's, g-g-" He clamped his jaw shut, unwilling to listen to his voice betray him anymore. He passed the letter over to Pepper, and he read it out loud.

_Dear Ross,_

_You're not going to like what I have to say in this letter, which is why I wrote it instead of saying it directly to you. I'm going to end this, once and for all. I'm tired of living my life, having to constantly look over my shoulder. He's taken so much from me, my childhood, my friends and almost my life. I will NOT let him have you, and the people who I've grown to love so much. I took your gun, sorry for not asking permission first, but I thought that you would understand. I'm going to confront my father; it's going to end today. Please know that I'm doing this to protect you, and that I don't want you to follow me. I love you Ross, I have since we first kissed. No matter what happens, remember that. _

_Love always,_

_Elizabeth._

Dallas and Pepper were in shock. How could she do this? Run towards the monster who had caused her so much pain? While they deliberated, they didn't notice what Ross was doing. He had slipped away and gone into the barn, grabbing a hold of Tank. There was no way in hell Ross was going to let his girlfriend run towards the man who almost killed her. He tacked the Quarter horse up, hopped on and rode out. The others just noticed. "Ross, where are you going?" Pepper exclaimed, disbelieving of his best friends actions. "To her." Was the only reply he got.


	24. Showdown

Lizzie rode for what seemed like hours. The sun had risen, and the temperature had already risen above thirty degrees. She peeled off her sweatshirt and fanned herself with her t-shirt. She was looking for her father, but had so far found nothing. She dismounted from Joker and pulled out the gun. It was a small caliber, but powerful. The silver metal felt cool in her hands. She checked the chamber and saw that it was empty. Lizzie loaded the gun, thankful that Ross had showed her how to use it.

She took out a water bottle and drank from it, once again glad that she had had the foresight to know that she would need it. She looked around and saw two things simultaneously. A bright blue tent by an abandoned shack, and the faint out line of another rider. Not really paying attention to the rider, she remounted, and rode towards the tent, gun in hand.

Ross saw Lizzie off in the distance, somehow he had managed to catch up to her, despite the head start. He saw her start riding again, and almost instantly knew why. A tent next to and abandoned shack, which screamed hideout. Now that he at least knew where she was headed, he wouldn't have to worry about losing her. He pushed Tank forwards, and his steed responded with the quiet enthusiasm that he always had.

Finally he got close enough to see Lizzie clearly. She had packed a bit, ready in case she was out for longer than a few hours. He saw his gun in her hand, and reasoned that it was probably loaded. He called out to her. "Lizzie!" She turned and paled at the sight of him. A look of determination settled on her face. "Don't try to change my mind Ross, or make me go back. I'm staying out here until I find my father." "You don't have to wait sweetie." They looked towards the sound of the third voice.

He stood there, rifle in hand. They had found Lizzie's father. He stood before them, shirt un-tucked, greasy hair sticking up in an odd pattern and a grin filled with rotten teeth. He had the Gun pointed at Lizzie. "Get off your horse Betty." Why she hated the name Betty so much finally made sense. Lizzie responded by pointing Ross' gun at him. "No way." Her voice was steady and her face looked resolved.

That's when he pointed the gun at Ross and cocked it. "Do it, or I'll shoot your boyfriend." Her face paled drastically, and Ross worried that she might pass out. "Okay." She started to dismount. "Lizzie don't!" "Shut-up!" He waited until Lizzie had dismounted before ordering Ross to do the same. "Give me the gun Betty." "Lizzie, d-don't d-d-do it" Lizzie was conflicted. Her father had moved so that he was standing right behind Ross and had the barrel pressed against Ross' temple. She could shoot, right now, and be done with it. But if she made a mistake, Ross would be dead. So she came up with an alternate plan.

She walked forward and changed the gun's position, so that the handle was pointing out. She waited till she was close enough, before raising it and hitting her father in the head as had as she could. "ROSS RUN!" She bolted and urged Ross to go as well. He was in the saddle within seconds. Just as his heels hit Tank's side, he heard a scream.

He turned and saw that her father had gotten up and blood was streaming down his face. His arm was wrapped around Lizzie's neck and the gun she had stolen from him, was now pressed to her head. "Ross, go! Save yourself!" Lizzie pleaded. She hadn't wanted this to happen. She was supposed to be the only one involved with this. "Do as Betty says Ross. Turn around and leave, if you send any cops I'll kill her." His voice was dark and menacing. Ross had no choice but to leave. He grabbed Joker's reins and slowly left with the two horses. Leaving Lizzie trapped with her insane and murderous father.

Lizzie felt nothing but relief when Ross listened to her and left. She couldn't handle it if he got hurt as well as her. Her father pulled her out of the morning sun as soon as Ross was out of eyesight. Half-pushing and half-dragging her to the abandoned shack with him. Inside it was dark and musty, the smell of something rotten permeating the air. She was chocking against the intensity of the smell when a hand slapped her across the face. She fell and hit the concrete floor, and the abuse started. Her father started to kick her while he taunted her.

"So you decided to tell everyone, hmm?" another kick, and she knew that he had re-broken her ribs from her fall off of Joker. "Why did you do it Betty? Seeking attention? Why give up your boyfriend? He was the only one who could even love you, not that dumb cowboy boy-toy you have there. Do you think that h actually likes you? Ha! Even the idea is laughable." Lizzie stopped listening, zoning out instead. She knew that her father was feeding her lies, and she wasn't going to listen to them.

Minutes passed by, and her father continued his verbal and physical assault on his daughter. She was positive that he had broken at least three bones and she knew that she was bleeding from more than one place. She started to feel dizzy, and was appreciative knowing that she could let herself slip into unconsciousness and not have to feel pain anymore. The darkness was just starting to invade her sight when the sound of wood splintering hit her ears.

She shook her head trying to wake up. She did, but became even dizzier in the process. Lizzie looked up and saw Ross. He was fighting her father, and for the moment he was winning. She struggled to sit up, her vision tilted and she had to fight back a wave of nausea. Her mind briefly reminded her that she probably had a concussion.

By the time she had managed to sit up, her father had gotten Ross off of him. He had grabbed a baseball bat and was attacking Ross with a vicious ferocity. She felt tears come to her eyes, what was she going to do? She scanned the room looking for anything that she could use and then she saw it, Ross' gun. She tried to reach for it, but fell short. She tried to stand up, but almost passed out. She had to crawl over, her injuries becoming more apparent. She gasped in pain as she felt the broken bones grate against each other. She almost screamed when she hit a bump with her broken ribs. But Ross was in serious danger, and she was too close to fail.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, she had the gun in hand. Without giving herself time to think, she raised the weapon, and pulled the trigger.


	25. Hospital

The sound of the bullet firing echoed in the shack. She heard her Father yell and curse out loud. She opened her eyes, unaware that she had shut them. She had shot her father, hitting his abdomen. He lay on the floor as blood spilled out. Ross crawled away and towards Lizzie. "Lizzie, let go of the gun" She was laying there, gasping for air and her hand was shaking. She held the gun so tightly that her knuckles had turned white. He made his way over to her and wrapped her hand in his. Lizzie looked into his eyes and dropped the gun.

She lunged forwards and held onto him for dear life. She started to cry, and continued to hold on, despite the pain. They both heard the sounds of sirens coming. "It's over, It's finally over" Lizzie sobbed. The police came in and cleared the scene. After the paramedics came in and loaded them into separate ambulances, or at least they tried. Lizzie hadn't wanted to be separated from Ross, so he rode with her instead. Once they were in the hospital though, they had to be separated. It worked out okay though, because Lizzie had finally succumbed to her concussion and passed out.

When Lizzie awoke, she was startled by her surroundings. She bolted upright, only to fall back in pain. Ross' comforting face soon came into her line of sight. "Ross, are you okay? What about my father, did they catch him? Wait what's that beeping sound?" He chuckled without humor. "You're in the hospital. I'm okay, and your father is in the ICU." He sighed and looked at Lizzie angrily. She started to panic at his expression; she had never seen him this angry before.

"What the hell were you thinking?" his voice was calm, but had an undercurrent of unadulterated rage. "What are you talking about?" "Running off in the middle of the night, and going to confront the man who almost killed you, by yourself. What if I hadn't been there Lizzie? Then what would have done? You'd be d-dead!" His voice choked up at the end, and Ross turned away from the hospital bed. Lizzie heard him sniffle once, and realized that he was crying.

"Ross, I don't know what to tell you. I thought that I could do it, and I was just so tired of everything that was happening. I'm sorry." She broke down into fresh tears. Ross came back over and wrapped her in an almost crushing hug. They stayed like that for a moment, hugging each other with a desperate fierceness. Ross pulled away slightly, and forced Lizzie to look at him straight in the eye. "Don't ever do that to me again." "I won't" she promised. They went back to hugging each other, but were interrupted by the doctor.

"Ah Elizabeth, good to see that your awake. How are you feeling?" "Like I was hit by a bus." He chuckled lightly at that. "Well I could imagine. Now you were beaten pretty badly, so I'm going to have to keep you in here for a while." "What are my exact injuries?" "You have three broken ribs, and your left leg was broken in two different places. You have a pretty severe concussion, but you're awake and coherent which is a very good sign. We'll probably keep you in here for a week for observation mostly, but then you can go home." "Thank-you." "Oh and tell your boyfriend there that he shouldn't have checked out." Lizzie turned to Ross with a questioning look. "I'm fine." She raised an eyebrow. "Okay, I shouldn't have done it, but I don't need to be in the hospital for anything." "I disagree there Ross. You have sustained many soft tissue injuries, and you should be kept in for observation in case you start to bleed internally."

Lizzie sent a half-hearted glare towards Ross. She understood why he did it though; she would have done the same thing. The doctor checked a few of the machines before leaving. Just before he left though, he turned to the couple. "Oh, because you're both injured I don't want any sort of hanky-panky to happen between you two." He then left, unaware of the blush that had spread on Ross' face. Lizzie giggled at his appearance. "You look a little like a grape." He smiled sheepishly at Lizzie, both of them glad that their ordeal with her father had come to a conclusion.


	26. Ending

After the week had passed, Lizzie was officially discharged from the hospital. Ross hadn't left her side for a moment. It was irrational, but a small part of him was still concerned about her father. He knew that she was worried as well, but just didn't say anything about it. When he drove her home in his pick-up the duo was greeted by a gathering of the town's people. They had pulled together a large party to celebrate the pair overcoming these extraordinary events. They had even brought Lizzie's younger sister to visit.

"Celia!" Lizzie screamed, before attempting to run over to her. It proved to be quite a challenge on crutches. Her sister was only about a year younger than her, with the same emerald eyes and pale skin. Her hair was bright red though, almost as bright as Peppers and red-orange freckles dotted her skin. The two girls hugged glad that they could finally meet again. "I missed you so much!" "I missed you. Oh Elizabeth I wanted to thank-you for all that you did for me!" "It was nothing." The two girls hugged for a minute longer.

The crowd erupted with cheers and music began to play from an unknown source. The party had begun. Lizzie and Ross were soon overwhelmed with people complimenting their bravery, ingenuity and the level of devotion they had displayed towards one another.

After a few hours, Lizzie silently slipped away. She walked, or rather hobbled down to La Charla's edge, sitting on the river bank. The calm sounds of water flowing helped to sooth her. While she had been enjoying the party, three hours of constant interaction had worn her out. She was just glad that she hadn't seen Linc or any of the other Slocum's.

The sound of gravel crunching made her aware that she was no longer alone. Looking up, she saw Ross. He eased himself down so that he was sitting next to her. He had to take in a breath as his body was still recovering. "Hey." "Hey yourself. Did you take the meds that the Doctor gave you?" "Naw, don't need'em." Lizzie fought to not roll her eyes. A soft smile worked its way onto her face instead.

They sat in silence for a while, simply content to just be in each other's presence. "We should get married." Lizzie's head turned so fast Ross feared that she was going to get whiplash. "W-What?" "I thought I was the one with the stutter." He chuckled without humor. "Ross, what are you talking about? Are you serious?" "Not now, not so soon after everything that has happened. I just think that in the future that you are going to be my wife." Silence followed his blunt statement.

Without warning, Lizzie lunged at Ross and hugged him tight. He gripped her just as tightly, both of them ignored their injuries. "I like that idea." Lizzie whispered. She pulled away and Ross saw that although she had a grin on her face, her eyes were filled with tears. "What's wrong?" "Nothing, I just, I can't believe how far my life has come. Six months ago I was in the hospital trying to survive, and now I'm talking to my boyfriend about the future. This is the first time since my mom left us that I've been happy. Thank you Ross. I love you." "You deserve happiness Lizzie. I love you too." He kissed her gently, and they silently agreed to getting married one day.

After a while Ross saw that Lizzie was shivering. "Come on, let's get you warmed up." As they walked towards the bunkhouse, they saw Celia kissing Pepper. Lizzie's jaw dropped. "Pepper!" she yelled. The couple broke apart and looked at her, both blushing beet red. "Yeah?" "You two make a cute couple." Celia and Pepper both sighed in relief. "Thanks Liz." "Oh, don't forget, I know how to shoot a gun." Pepper's face became deathly pale, and everyone else simply laughed at his expense.

**Well we are almost finished! I'm going to add one last chapter later as an epilogue. I want to thank everyone who reviewed or read this story as well as everyone for adding me to their favorite author, favorite story or alert lists. Once again thank you and I hope you enjoyed! **


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